I decided to build a swarm trap and see if I could catch a feral colony, or at least the bees from one of my own hives if they swarmed.

I've read that using old equipment that "smells like a hive" helps encourage scout bees to select the trap as a new home. With that in mind, I pulled out one of my old nuc boxes from the garage.

I added a few frames of foundation only. Not sure if this is required, but I thought if some bees did moved in, they might draw wax on the frames instead of wild comb on the inside of the box.



I also read they like the smell of wax. I took a few chunks of bur comb and placed it into the box.

I don't know what is in the commercial swarm lure products, but I've read lots of people have good luck with lemongrass oil. This stuff is several dollars an ounce at the stores, so I found a seller on ebay selling it for a lot cheaper.

I used a medicine dropper and applied it quite generously around the landing board, and inside the trap.




I've heard that swarm traps tend to work better if they're 10-15 feet off the ground, so I gathered some scrap wood and made a quick platform in a group of trees for the nuc to sit on.

The trees are a straight 100 feet from the front of the hives. My thoughts are if one of my hives swarmed, they might fly straight out and land in a cluster of trees near where the trap is.

If not, it's at least a convenient place for me to put it. :)



Below is an up close picture of the nuc/swarm-trap. I painted it white knowing it would probably spend quite a bit of time outside waiting for the chance to be scouted as a potential home by scout bees.



I'm excited to see if this works or not.

If you've used a swarm trap before, was it successful? Did you use any swarm lure?