# Bees galore, how do I "catch" a hive?



## bbbuddy (Jul 29, 2002)

Hi, this is probably something I should research instead of asking, but want to get started today if possible. 
Yesterday I left the top off a 55 gallon drum of pig/cattle feed, it is finely ground corn, soybeans, etc. Bees found it and went from about 8 to over a hundred in a few hours. They were gentle, I reached right in the drum to scoop out some feed and they didn't get the least bit upset, and the drum was right full of them, plus all the ones in the air around it!

Can I go buy some wood and quickly make a top bar hive and try to encourage the bees to take up residence here if and when they are ready to swarm? And since they really liked the feed should I bait the top bar hive with this feed?
I am in AZ and there is nothing in bloom yet here, so I guess they aren't too picky right about now...


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## Iddee (Sep 25, 2005)

#1...You could set a swarm trap. You want to use a swarm lure, like a few drops of lemongrass oil, or lemon pledge, not a food.

#2...In AZ., there is a good chance of the bees you catch being Africanized bees. Even they are very docile when foraging, but get quite defensive when protecting their hive.


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## deaconjim (Oct 31, 2005)

The foraging bees won't "take up residence", but you can catch a swarm as Iddee suggested. You can, as long as you prepare yourself ahead of time, catch a wild swarm if you can find them on a branch or something. The Africanized bees are dangerous, however, so you need to be very well prepared and take the time to educate yourself. 

My suggestion, if you are interested in beekeeping, is to find a local beekeeper who will teach you the right way to get started.


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## bbbuddy (Jul 29, 2002)

Is it normal for bees to forage in powdered grain meal? At first I thought they must be wasps (meat eaters) but they are all hairy and look just like regular bees...
We are in northeast AZ one mile high with cold (-9F) winters (zone 6), don't african bees stay where it is warmer?
ok, I looked up swarm traps, why can't you just use the pheromone inside a top bar hive to get them to swarm there?
Also, if they LIKE the powdered grain, why can't that help convice them to move in?
I know, I'm a complete bee "dummy"....


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## bbbuddy (Jul 29, 2002)

DeaconJim, I have tried to find a local beekeeper, with NO LUCK. The bee associations (2) are all down in Phoenix, over 200 miles away, and I've seen no hives around here, in 4 years...this is cow country, not farm country...


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## Kmac15 (May 19, 2007)

bbbuddy said:


> DeaconJim, I have tried to find a local beekeeper, with NO LUCK. The bee associations (2) are all down in Phoenix, over 200 miles away, and I've seen no hives around here, in 4 years...this is cow country, not farm country...


In order to get a hive to stay you have to have the queen. They do not take the queen out foraging with them, she only travels when mating or swarming.


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## bbbuddy (Jul 29, 2002)

Hi Kmac, yes, I understand that much. I just wanted to be ready for them if they swarm. If they come here and like the food won't they be more likely to come looking for a new home when they swarm?


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## indypartridge (Oct 26, 2004)

bbbuddy said:


> DeaconJim, I have tried to find a local beekeeper, with NO LUCK. The bee associations (2) are all down in Phoenix, over 200 miles away, and I've seen no hives around here, in 4 years...this is cow country, not farm country...


You might trying calling Dennis Arp at Mountain Top Honey in Flagstaff. He's been keeping bees about 25 years. He might be able to connect you with a beekeeper that's close to you:
http://renewingthecountryside.org/i...iew&category=3&Itemid=43&limit=1&limitstart=3

Here's a couple of links with info on top bar hives:
http://www.bwrangler.com/bee/ttbh.htm
http://www.bushfarms.com/beestopbarhives.htm


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## deaconjim (Oct 31, 2005)

Try "Beekeeping for Dummies" by Howlind Blackiston or "The Backyard Beekeeper: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden" by Kim Flottum and Weeks Ringle. Read up on the subject before you try to get started and you'll have much better success and save yourself a bunch of expensive (and possibly painful) mistakes.

I do wholeheartedly encourage you to give beekeeping a try, it's a great hobby.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

The bees are in your powdered grain right now because of what you said, Nothing is in bloom. They are useing ther grain as a pollen substute untill they find pollen and nectar other places. My bees at the horse farm do it every spring.
Yes you could build a top bar hive and put the swarm lure in it. You could have a swarm take up resident in there. Then again maybe not.
Try lining the bees in your grain to see if you can find their hive location. The closer you set up to it the better chance of getting a swarm.

 Al


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## bbbuddy (Jul 29, 2002)

DeaconJim thanks for the book links, Indypartridge, thanks for the link to a Flagstaff beekeeper, and alleyyooper, thanks for the info, I assume "lining" the bees means seeing which direction they travel from the grain and trying to follow? Boy they are HARD tokeep in sight, at least for me! I have a general idea of the direction they go, I guess I need to get in my 6x6 and try to follow...(can't walk real far, bad hip).

The bad hip is the reason I am interested in doing a top bar hive, not having to move heavy boxes is a winner to me, plus getting wax along with honey would be fine.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Yes lining is following them to their hive. Watch them as long as you can. Go to that point and watch again as far as you can. Then go to that point and repete. You can help the lining with some sugatr syrup. When you can't see them any longer set a small amount of syrup out for them. Just keep moving the dish of syrup along till you find home.
The syrup thing works as long as nothing is in bloom yet. After the blooms start they will use natural nectar and leave the syrup to the yellow jackets and other critters.

 Al


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## sugarbush (Jul 15, 2007)

Mark several of the bees in the grain on the back with nail polish, It will make them easier to see as they fly away. Move several yards in that direction and wait for another one to come by... and so on. 

You can set your top bar up and use lemon grass oil as a swarm lure. If you can get some bees wax to rub the top bars with that may help to.


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## bbbuddy (Jul 29, 2002)

Great info guys, thanks! I bought some wood yesterday, my DH said he will help build one tomorrow.
I am not afraid of bees, having only been stung a couple of times in my life. I don't get upset with them around, don't "flail" my amrs or react when they are close. He on the other hand already said "if I get stung, the hive gets burned up"
good thing I know he's only joking!
But I KNOW I will be beekeeping alone, so the top bar hive makes more sense, I know I can't handle heavy wood boxs...but I CAN see moving one bar at a time, slowl...

If there are feral bees out here, it seems like a good indicator that I can keep at least one hive, there MUST be food enough for bees! Plus there will be more, I just bought some buckwheat yesterday, and some alfalfa...


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Ok I will say it. 
*Only people with out thinking matter have a problem with moving deep full hive bodies.
That applys to mediums and shallows as well.*

Just why do you need to move them in the first place?
How are you going to carry the honey in your TBH to the area you are going to harvest it?
Just like many elder bee keepers do, one frame at a time. Or a half a deep, medium, or shallow.

 Al


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## sugarbush (Jul 15, 2007)

I always thought the reason to do TBH was to save money. If you only want one or two hives for your own personal enjoyment, it's a great way to go.

My bees are on 8 frame mediums because I like mediums and I can fit five across on the truck instead of 4 when moving boxes.


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## bbbuddy (Jul 29, 2002)

alleyyooper said:


> Ok I will say it.
> *Only people with out thinking matter have a problem with moving deep full hive bodies.
> That applys to mediums and shallows as well.*
> 
> ...


Ok, guess I am wrong about moving hive boxes. I was under the impression that they were stacked up and unstacked and moved into different order in the hive, etc, like taking off the top ones with honey to see what is going on in the lower ones, etc. So I thought there was alot of stacking, unstacking...

I still think top bars are better for me as a newbie since there is less $ involved in getting one started/simple to build etc....


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