Beekeeping it’s the bee’s knees

Everything is soooo far behind here. Nights are still single digits Celsius. Next week we finally hit warm days. I don't think I'll see swarms around here for another couple weeks

 

Better to have them up. When everything pops it will be on

 

Baited with a bit of burr comb and lemon grass oil. Do you guys know how long the oil scent lasts before it needs reapplying

 

I rebait every 2 weeks , you can take a straw and cut the straw in to 2 inch pieces push in a cotton ball and add the lemon grass oil to the cotton and it seams to last longer


https://www.rvbees.com/swarm_traps

 

Ok thx. When I go and check them, I'll do that. I just thumbtacked a pc of lamp wick to the trap with the lemon oil.

 

So I have a deadout hive, can I use 1 box as a swarm trap, with entrance reducer, drawn comb, some frames with capped honey, pollen and open syrup/nectar. Also bait with some lemongrass oil. What happens if the ants get in?

Thanks for your help everyone

 

great alarm to keep ppl from stealing stuff in bed lol

 

@nobescareYou can try, add a empty deep on the bottom and put the frames up top, put some cinnamon on the bottom board will keep the ants out . If it’s a solid bottom board it works better in swarm trap.
You may have some robbing of the nectar

 

Perfect. I'll do that this week when the rain stops

 

Does that cinnamon application look ok or too much?

 

Looks good will keep the ants out

 

Bees don’t care about the cinnamon but ants hate it

 

Perfect. Thanks everyone. Your help is greatly appreciated. Thank you jtcmedic

 

So my swarm traps have been up 3 weeks at locations where there's normally a tonne of bee activity. The losses must be staggering around here. None of the property owners have seen a single bee so far this year. The odd bumblebee.

 

May be a late start ?

 

That's what I'm hoping.

 

How’s July start going

 

It's dead around here. No bees anywhere. The whole city is dead. Anyone I talk to hasn't seen a single bee in their gardens, where they've usually seen loads of in previous years. Not good here in southern ontario

 

Wow that is disheartening

 

It's weird. They must be around but the numbers must be way down. We're about 4 weeks behind in terms of weather, farming, etc. Hopefully we see something in a couple weeks. If not i already have a pre-order in for 2 nucs for 2023.