A swarm trap is essentially a decoy hive, a container designed to mimic the natural cavity sought by a migrating honeybee colony. This specialized box is typically sized between 40 and 60 liters, corresponding closely to the natural preference of a honeybee swarm. The primary purpose of deploying these bait hives is to intercept feral or migrating swarms, providing them with an attractive, controlled location. Successful placement is paramount because scout bees are highly selective, performing a detailed evaluation of potential sites before the entire colony commits to a move.
Selecting the General Area
Choosing the right macro-location for a swarm trap involves understanding the natural foraging and migratory paths of honeybees in the local environment. Traps placed near the edges of woodlands or along fencerows are often more successful, as these features serve as recognizable landmarks for flying scout bees. Prominent, isolated trees that stand out against the landscape make particularly good candidates for trap installation.
Scout bees are more likely to discover traps situated close to known foraging resources, such as large fields of clover or abundant flowering plants. Placing the trap near a permanent water source, like a creek or pond, also increases the likelihood of discovery, as water sources consistently draw local bee populations. The chosen area should be clear of dense brush to allow an unobstructed flight path to the trap entrance.
A crucial consideration is the distance from any existing managed apiaries, including your own hives. If the goal is to capture swarms from other sources, traps should be placed a minimum of 750 feet away, and ideally up to a mile, from established colonies. Positioning a trap too close to your own hives risks attracting your own swarms, which defeats the purpose of capturing new genetics.
Optimizing Specific Trap Placement
Once a general area is selected, the physical installation requires attention to precise details that appeal to the scout bees’ preference for a secure, elevated home. Scientific studies show that honeybees favor a cavity entrance positioned high off the ground, with a height of 10 to 15 feet being the most attractive range. This elevation provides a natural defense against predators and dampness, which are negative factors for a new colony.
Optimal orientation for the trap entrance is typically toward the south or southeast, which allows the morning sun to warm the box quickly. This early warmth is beneficial for the developing brood inside the new colony, a factor scout bees instinctively evaluate. The trap must be highly visible from below and from a distance, meaning it should not be hidden by dense foliage or obscured branches.
The trap must be secured tightly to a sturdy structure, such as a large tree limb or pole, using materials like heavy-duty ratchet straps. This security prevents the box from swaying excessively in the wind, a condition that scout bees would reject as unstable for a growing colony. Ensuring the trap is level is also important for the bees to build straight, manageable comb once they move in. The small entrance hole, ideally about two square inches, should face outward with a clear flight path.
Deployment Timing and Monitoring
The temporal aspect of swarm trapping begins with deploying the traps early in the season, before the main swarming period starts. The ideal window is typically in early spring, often coinciding with the bloom of local fruit trees, as this signals the start of resource abundance and colony buildup. Putting the traps out early maximizes the chance for scout bees to discover and assess the site before a swarm is ready to leave its parent colony.
Traps should remain in place throughout the late spring and summer, as secondary swarms can occur well past the initial peak season. Monitoring the traps is a simple process that only needs to be performed about once a week.
The presence of a high volume of bee traffic, or small amounts of pollen being carried into the entrance, indicates that a swarm has likely moved in. Upon confirming a capture, the swarm should be removed quickly, ideally in the evening after all the foraging bees have returned to the box. Swift removal prevents the bees from building excessive comb inside the trap, which can make the transfer to a permanent hive much more difficult. Moving the newly captured colony to its permanent location ensures the trap is emptied and ready to be reset for later swarms.