I basically used whatever I had sitting around. Think these were 1/4" carriage bolts, but it really doesn't matter what you use as long as they are sturdy enough to hold up your box.
Ellis Ralph extensive research into ideal swarm trap conditions have been done by Tom Seely. Mist ideal volume is between 35-60 liters internally with a 1.5" round opening or equivalent. Single deeps come in at 43 liters, so they are close to the sweet spot in the middle of the range.
Sorry, but I don't have a video of that. I only put a couple of traps out in my own yards this year, but if I catch one I'll make a video if what to do next.
The final topcoat can be anything, but exterior paint is best as interior paint doesn't have mold inhibiting components in it... unless it's bathroom paint, etc. I just use a good quality water based primer, I prefer Kilz, and 2 top coats of an exterior water based paint.
"First off, use....old paint that's not going to off gas"... Proceeds to paint the old box. Did you just mess up and ruin it now or is it just an opinion that is not practiced and doesn't change the outcome? This is at least the 2nd beekeeper that stressed the "first thing" is to avoid new paint due to off gassing. I'm about to start package bees in new hive bodies and now I may want to find old boxes. Why is new paint and off gassing the first thing to avoid?
It really doesn't matter either way as long as you don't paint the inside of a box. Since I had to paint the new pieces that made up the top and bottom of the box I thought I would mention the difference in new and old paint since people do ask, but I have never really found it to make a huge difference. With that being said, I wouldn't paint a new hive and put bees in it that afternoon, but rather let it sit out and air out for a few days before installing bees. Since it was highly unlikely that I would have a swarm move right in to any of my traps, and I had new bare plywood tops and bottoms that needed to be coated, I went ahead and painted mine anyhow without worrying about it. Sorry for any confusion I might have caused.
