This is a close-up of the entrance to the bait box yesterday. Today there is even more activity around the trapwith bees doing what looks like orientation flights and some guarding. I took a look inside and there were many bees crawling around. I tried unsuccessfully to see in which direction they were arriving and leaving. If I had identified a "bee line" I would have tried to find the swarm; that is if these are scouts from a swarm. Assuming they are, I am hopeful that a swarm will be moving in soon. However, check out
this thread.
I attended a Bee Cafe meeting with Laura, a beekeeper to be. The
Sonoma County Beekeepers Association apparently has clusters and the meet at various homes. The people were lovely and the food was delicious. I learned about a swarm trap made from
pulp pots and made one as soon as I could on returning home.
All the holes but one are plugged with foam padding. Inside is a piece of
slumgum and a couple of drops of lemongrass oil. The two pots are held together with wood screws.
I hung it in a tree in front.
After this picture was taken, I secured it to the tree with twine.
One needs to check this trap daily. When a swarm moves into a new hive, it begins building comb right away. Moving them would be difficult once there is comb.
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