Information Bulletin No. 187 A Cornell Cooperative Extension Publication

Bait Hives for Honey

By Thomas D. Seeley, Roger A. Morse, and Richard Nowogrodzki 2

Introduction In the Ithaca area of central New Some prosperous colonies cast In most parts of the United States York State we have captured swarms more swarms in the days following many colonies of bees live in hollow in 80 percent of the bait hives we set the departure of their first ("primary" ) trees and buildings. They are descen­ out in good years-nearly a hundred swarm. Each such "afterswarm" dants of bees that escaped from ­ swarms in some years. In our poorest includes one or more young, virgin keepers' hives and reverted to natural year, fewer than 20 percent of the bait queens. We estimate that colonies nests like those of their remote ances­ hives were occupied. in trees and buildings cast swarms tors. By using special hives called bait Capturing swarms can be an easy, nine years out of ten; those managed hives or bait boxes, beekeepers may inexpensive way to begin in by beekeepers cast swarms less harvest swarms that issue from these beekeeping. However, a newly frequently. or other colonies. captured swarm, like a newly in­ The number of bees in a swarm An understanding of how swarms stalled package of bees, rarely varies greatly-from about 2,000 to choose their nest sites helps us design produces a surplus of honey for the more than 50,000. The swarms with and situate bait hives to make them beekeeper the first year. In fact, a the lowest populations are probably more likely to attract swarms. Observ­ swarm captured late in the season afterswarms, which tend to be much ing the way a swarm selects and may need supplemental feeding to smaller than primary swarms. Very builds a new nest can provide survive the winter. large swarms probably result from important background information two or more swarms becoming confused and joining. Other factors for successfully pursuing the art of What Is a Swarm? beekeeping. affect swarm size, such as the volume In many areas, the number of When a colony of honey bees be­ of the nest cavity. Because a colony honey bee colonies in trees and comes large, it divides into two units. casts a swarm when its residence has buildings probably exceeds the About 30 to 70 percent of the bees become congested, colonies in small number in human-made hives. All remain in the parent colony; the rest hives tend to swarm more frequently these colonies have chosen their leave as a swarm. The bees in the than those in large hives, with fewer homes. By studying naturally selected swarm are predominantly workers, bees per swarm. nests and experimenting with various but a small fraction may be drones Swann populations average 10,000 types of hives we have developed (males). Typically, each swarm has to 12,000 bees, about the number in a bait hive recommendations for one queen, usually the old one from three-pound package of bees . A beekeepers. the parent colony (who is the mother swarm or package of bees weighing of all the bees in the colony). three pound,;, installed in a hive in the spring, is considered a good ·111ispainting by an starting unit for a beekeeper. unknown anise was A swarm contains bees of all ages. purchased in a market in Thus, even the day a swarm is hived Nairobi, Kenya. East the population declines due to the Africahas a tradition of natural death r.tte. For the beekeeper, beekeeping and it is important that the queen begin to harvesting heeswax and lay eggs and make replacement bees honey that goes back as soon as possible. A period of 21 .,·veral thousand years. days is required to grow a worker bee Lach year, beekeepers gel from egg to adult. Adult workers new colonies by placing typically live only four to six weeks. empty handmade hives Thus a swarm is a fairly frail unit. where cheywill altract swanns. Details in this In fact , eighty percent of swanns painting are biologically that move into natural nests fail to and cultur.illy accurate. survive the first winter. Even the best The hive is an appropriate beekeepers lose some colonies size, well off thf' ground, throughout the year , particularly .ind shaded but easily during the winter. Good beekeeping visible. The shape of the involves reducing losses to an accept­ tree shows the effects c:J able level. the winds on the Nairobi plain. The men pictured are Masai, with their typical red dress, shield'!, and spears. 3

When Does Swanning Occur? the importance of microclimate for SWARM honeybees. EMERGENCE Successful use of bait hives, especially DATES, 1971-1976 timely harvesting, requires knowing Microclimate should be considered when swarming is most likely to occur carefully when selecting sites for api- aries. The more favorable the condi- ;i in one's area. In centrnl New York State , 80 percent of swarming takes tions, the more likely that colonies May 10 place between May 15 and July 15 will grow rapidly and prosper. For a (see Figure 1). Nearly 20 percent takes natural, unmanaged colony, this can place between August 15 and Septem- mean more swarming, or swarming ber 15. The remainder~nly 1 to 2 earlier in the season; for a beekeeper, percent--0ecurs between mid-July it can translate into greater honey and mid-August. production. A similar pattern presumably hold,; The departure of a swarm from its in the rest of the United States, except parent colony may take only five to that swarming starts earlier toward the ten minutes, hut noticeable prepara- tions begin up to 10 days in advance. south. Swarming in Maryland starts in 5 April, for example, and in Florida in For example, colonies send out scout bees to search for new homesites late February or March. For New June 10 York, we recommend capturing and several days before the entire swarm issues. Searching scouts can he seen hiving spring swarms only; late 15 summer and fall swam1s require too flying up and down tree trunks much feeding and other attention to investigating knotholes and other 20 be worthwhile , and even then may openings. In Central New York, the search for homesites may begin as not survive the winter. 25 In general, a honey bee colony early as the first week in May, so bait swarms only if the bees are relatively hives should be in place before then. 30 congested during the swarming season. During this period of preparation, This means that colonies that swarm in many workers the four pairs of 5 tend to be those with populations that wax glands on the underside of the build up the fastest. Thus the timing abdomen go through development. July 10 of spring swarming is closely tied to Thus the bees in a swarm are primed the speed of colony buildup. to build new comb rapidly. A bee- 15 Population growth is affected by keeper can take advantage of this and various factors, including the availa- use a new swarm to draw good 20 bility of food , the ease with which the combs from foundation. colony can control its hive environ- Bait hives should be inspected and 25 ment (for example, colonies with harvested frequently because within damp bottom boards have more weeks of occupying a new home a 30 difficulty controlling the temperature swarm can make a great quantity of for rearing brood), the age of the fragile new comb. This may make 5 queen (young queens generally lay moving full hait hives difficult, as more eggs than old queens), and the overheating may cause the comb to August 10 presence or absence of disease. melt, or undue jarring may break The amount of space available also comb and kill bees. 15 contributes to crowding. When bees Other swarm preparations are select their own nest they prefer cavi- made by a colony. Queen cells are 20 ties smaller than the hives that are built and provisioned, and the queen 25 generally used for bee husbandry. The lays eggs in them. Generally, by the small nests tend to encourage swarming . time the primary swarm issues forth, As shown in Figure 1, only three of 30 the more than 200 swanns we ob- Figure 1. The dates of swarming in the 5 served emerged before May 15. Two Ithaca, N.Y., area (data from 1971 through of these were cast in different years 1976) Each dot represents a swarm that September from the same bee tree, at a low emerged on the date shown . This 10 elevation on a hill west of Ithaca. The information indicates that bait hives fact that swarming in this spot oc- should be in place by May 1 to attract curred exceptionally early indicates -;coutsand be fully effective. "t20. 4

the cells arc capped, which means the developing queens are in the late lar­ Recommendations for Bait Hive Dt.,"Sign val or pupal stage. The old queen loses up to one-third of her weight in 1. HEIGHT: about 15 feet (S meters) above the ground. the weeks before swarm departure, 2. SHADE AND VISIBILITY: well-shaded, but highly visible. Bees avoid or which enables her to fly with the abandon bait hives in direct sun. swarm. 3. DISTANCE FROM PARENT NEST: not important.

2 4. TOTAL ENTRANCEAREA: about 1½ to 2 square inches (10 to 15 cm ); House Hunting by Bees a circular opening about 1¼ inch (3.2 cm) in diameter is suggested. There is division of labor in a honey s.ENTRANCESHAPE : not important. bee colony; individual bees specialize in different tasks. For example, all the 6. ENTRANCEPOSITION: near the floor of the hive. food gathering is done by the older 7. ENTRANCEDIRECTION: facing soulh preferred, but other directions are workers. Among these, a small acceptable. fraction (5 percent is probably typical) act as food scouts. They find 8. CA'vlTYVOLUME: about 1.4 cubic feet (40 liters). This is about the volume new patches of flowers and then of one standard ten-frame Langstroth hive body (see Figures 2 and 3). recn1it other workers to collect the 9. CAVITYSHAPE: not important. nectar and pollen . The recruits rarely, if ever, explore for new food sources 10. ORYNESSAND AIRTIGHTNESS: dry and snug, especially at the top. on their own, relying instead on 11. TYPE Of W(X)O, various types acceptable; many types of trees have been infonnation from the scouts. occupied. Bees may avoid new lumber. At swarming time, scout bees (pre ­ 12. ODOR: the odor of is attractive. However, putting in pieces of sumably the same ones that func­ comb is not advisable, as comb also attracts wax moths and can harbor tioned as food scouts) seek out and disease organisms. If a hive body is used as a bait hive, a good solution evaluate new nest sites. In experiments is to insert a few wired frames, each containing a strip of foundation . aimed at learning which nest charac­ Commercially available chemical lures that smell like lemon grass and teristics are important and what the apparently mimic the scouts' communication scents work well and can scoutc; prefer, we offered bees spe­ be used in bait hives of any shape. cially built bait hives (usually cube­ shaped) in pairs; within each pair the hives differed in only one respect. For each pair, we recorded which of the hives was chosen by a swarm. Results of choice tests for many swarms yielded 12 recommendations for bait hive design (see box). Some factors remain to be re­ searched. Bait hives that meet all the criteria are passed up by some swarms for unknown reasons. The color of the hive exterior appears to be unimportant, except that darker boxes may overheat in hot climates unless they are fully shaded. Colors that provide some camouflage reduce human vandalism w ithout dis­ cour..iging the bees. The boxes pictured in this bulletin Figure 2. We tested bait hives of varying sizes. These had volumes of I0, 40, and 100 were made with 5/8-inch-thick ply­ liters. When hives were mounted on trees a few meters apart, swarms usually chose the wood, but other materials can be middle-sized ( 40-liter) one, shown in detail in Figure 3. When only the smallest and used. Both sturdy cardboard boxes largest boxes were available, some swarms accepted the large box (100 liters) but none and lightweight molded papier ­ accepted the IO-literbox We found no relation between the population of the swarm mache plant pots (available from and the size box selected. nurseries) hav e been used success­ fully in areas with dry climates. 5

Inspecting Bait Hives In our experience, leaving bait hives ~r ------c,,14" in place to oveiwinter is a poor prac­ tice; very few colonies survive . Al­ though we have no data, we believe that bait hives are not as protected as tree cavities and that the winter death 20" 15" rate of colonies left in bait hives is much higher than the normal 15 to 20 percent loss of established colonies in tree holes. But it may not be signifi­ cantly higher than the 80 percent mortality of colonies in bee trees 1't.. " Diameter Enlrance Hole with Nail Across ii during their first year after moving in as a swarm. Bait hives should be checked fre­ Removable Floor Held on with Eye Hooks quently, both to obtain data about when they were occupied and to pick Figure 3. Most of the experimental bait hives were l S-1111:h(38-cm) cubes made of up the bees. It is much easier to take 5/8-inch (1.6-cm) plywood. We found that the shape of the bait hive is not a major down a recently occupied bait hive factor but the volume is quite important to honey bee swarms. Our data suggest that a than one that has been left in place sturdy box about the size of a standard 10-frame Langstrothsuper is satisfactory until the weight of the honey and the population of bees have increased significantly. Building a Bait Hive hives while maintaining free access The key sign of occupancy is bee A bait hive attract'> scout hccs and a for the bees. flight around the entrance. However, swarm only if huilt properly, so he Dryness and snugness are very im­ such activity may merely indicate that sure to follow the recommendations portant. To prevent any light or water the hive is being investigated hy scout listed in the box at left. The dimen­ from entering from the upper portion bees. The surest sign that a i.warm sions of the wooden boxes used in of the nest, all cracks must be sealed. has moved in is incoming bees carry­ our research are shown in Figure 3. Duct tape works well for this. ing loads of pollen. Home -seeking We used only cuhes after data scouts do not carry pollen. Not all indicated the shape of the hive is not bees collect pollen, however, and at important. Positioning Bait Hives certain times of the year in certain The box should be built so it can Success in using bait hives depends localities there may be a dearth of be opened easily to examine the nest. on proper site selection. A good loca­ pollen. Also, a colony with only 2,000 A removable top makes tr,msferring tion for a bait hive is about 15 feet (5 to 5,000 bees may show markedly the bees into a permanent hive much meters) above the ground, highly vis­ little activity at a hive entrance. easier. An excellent approach is to ible (to maximize the likelihood of Another useful distinction between nail a top and a bottom to a standard discovery hy scouts), and fully scouts from a swann and for-agers Langstroth hlve body (often called a shaded. Figure 4 shows three well­ from a colony that has taken up super) and use it as a halt hive. The located hives. The picture on page 2 residence is the pattern of flight top will be easy to remove later if the illustrates an ideal site in Kenya, East around the hive. Bees scouting a nailheads are left slightly exposed, Africa, where bait hives have been potential nest site move repeatedly in rather than driven ln flush with the used for centuries. and out of the entrance, sometimes wood. Even the most carefully chosen lo­ taking short flights but returning The bait hive must have a project­ cation may he ignored or rejected hy again and again for further inspec­ ing piece of wood or some type of bees. Inducing scout'i, and then tions of the interior. Most foragers, in hanger so it may he fastened to a tree swarms, to enter hait hives is only the contrast, either leave the entrance and later removed. It is frustrating to first step. We have observed swarms quickly or stand there for a while, find that a hox has fallen to the ground moving into bait hives only to reject rapidly groom themselves, then fly off because of poor nailing or to struggle them an hour or a

Figure 4. l11esc bait 111veswere among those occupied hy swanns. Their placement illustrates the types of locations that arc appropriate. The signs show the numbers assigned to the locations, and the arrows indicate the dir<..-ctionof the bait hive entrance (straight up would mean it fac.:ednorth).

Takin g Down a Bait Hive It is important to tie an occupied Transporting a Bait Hive to an Consider safety when bringing down bait hive into place carefully with Apiary a bulky hive. It is not an easy object rope before removing the nails that After a bait hive has been taken to carry on a ladder. An occupied bait hold it to a tree or other object. Use down, it can be transported to an hive may weigh as much as 60 to 80 one end of the rope to secure the apiary. Screening the entrance pounds (27 to 36kilograms). In some hive and place the other end around facilitates the moving operation. areas bait hives get heavy early in the a limb ahove the hive and tie it to the Attach the screening at a time when season when there has been a good ladder. Remove the nails, then untie darkness, cool temperatures, or rain honey flow. If nectar is abundant, a the end of the rope attached to the keeps all the bees inside the hive. colony can harvest several pounds of ladder and allow the hive to slide First gently smoke the entrnnce honey in a single day. Even a hive gently down one of the side rails of and any bees clustered on the outside without much stored honey can the ladder, or let the hive hang free of of the hive; carefully smoked bees contain many pounds of adult bees the ladder and slowly lower it to the should crawl into the hive. Then use and brood. ground. duct tape to fasten wire screening A beekeeper can approach and Remember that new comb is weak, over the entrance. Nails or tacks can handle an occupied bait hive as he or lacking the old cocoons and propolis also be used, but hammering stirs up she would any other colony, but that strengthen old comb. It is espe· the bees. Eight-mesh hardware cloth there are special considerations cially susceptible to damage without is a good type of screening to use. because of the awkwardness of the wired frames and woodenware Ordinary fly screening, which has 12 working on a ladder . Placing the present in a hive. If comb is broken to 14 wires per inch , is also satisfac­ ladder against a tree and climbing it as a bait hive is lowered to the tory but is not as strong. may arouse guard bees and make ground, there is danger of killing bees The screening should be removed them more likely to attack before you and losing honey. Honey dripping as soon as possible after the bees are can smoke the entrance. from a bait hive causes a mess and, in their new location. Under no A .smoker should be lit and ready when nectar is scarce, may cause circumstances should a hive rem,"lin before the ladder is placed against the robbing. screened all day, especially if it is tree. It may be possible to allow To avoid breaking comb, keep the exposed to the sun, because over­ smoke from below to drift up to the bait hive right side up while lowering heating can kill the colony and with a entrance bdore approaching the it to the ground. Problems may be closed entrance the bees cannot hive, but this is usually difficult to do minimized if the bait hive is made regulate hive temperature . effectively. Climb the ladder with care from a super and is provided with Screening must be undertaken to keep vilm1tions to a minimum, and wooden frames holding stnp.~ of with caution. Bait hive entrances are smoke the bait hive entrance quickly. foundation for comb building . small and ventilation is limited . In a 7

hive filled with bees, brood, and Bees are much less likely to previous use will make the bait hive food, the excited bees may generate abandon a new home if they are all the more attractive. so much heat that combs begin to hived in a light rain or in the evening. A method of speeding up the soften and break and bees begin to Direct sunlight, dampness, the odor transfer is to use drumming, a suffocate. of new wood and paint, or other centuries-old practice used to remove Moving bees in the cool of the physical disturbances sometimes bees from straw skeps and boxes. early morning helps prevent these prompt a swann to abscond . If a Place a new super of combs above problems, but sometimes other swann does leave the hive, it usually the bait hive (the new super must approaches are also necessary. settles nearby in a bush or tree, and have a cover, as bees will not drum Migratory beekeepers moving large you may try again to hive it in the into an open box) . Then , using hands numbers of colonies rarely screen same manner. Bees that have rejected or a lightweight rubber hammer, heat individual hives. They generally use a hive once may accept it on the rhythmically on the side of the bait closed, refrigerated trucks or open second try. hive. If a moderately slow, steady trucks on which a large net may A bait hive in which the bees have heat is maintained, the bees should screen the entire load. Each colony built significant comb should be abandon the hive (even leaving their entrance is left open so the bees can handled differently. Well-established brood behind) and march upward in cluster outside their entrance if hees are much more reluctant to an orderly manner. Drummed bees necessary. Reducing the mass of bees leave, and the brood and food stores do not become angry, but at the inside the hive prevents it from represent a valuable resource that outset of drumming always smoke a overheating, should be preserved if possible . colony carefully. If the bait hive has been supplied Still another method of trnnsfcrring with wooden frames and the comb bees from a bait hive is to remove the Transferring Bees to a Movable has been built in them, the transfer is cover, cut the combs from the Hive easy. Otherwise, a fairly simple one by one, and shake the bees into a An occupied bait hive lacking mov­ method is to place the bait hive on a super of drawn comb. This method able frames is illegal as a pennanem hive stand, remove the top (or causes much alarm and the air may hive in most states. This is because bottom, if you've turned the bait hive fill with angry and confused bees. adequate inspection for disease is upside down), and place a :mper of Bees adapt to a new hive more impossible. In addition, such a hive is empty combs on top. This is espe­ rnpidly if it contains a frame with inefficient. All captured swarms cially convenient if the bait hive itself some brood . If the queen can be should be transferred to movable is a super, or has the same dimen­ found and caged in the new hive her frame hives. sions as one. The bees expand their presence will attract and calm the Transferral must be done early home into the upper super, as it is bees. This system should not be used enough in the season that a colony natural for the brood nest to develop when there are other colonies in the has time to store sufficient pollen and upward. immediate vicinity, as lost bees may honey for its winter food. The first of Check the upper super for brood drift into the other colonies and per­ August in the northern states is in a week or two. If it contains eggs, haps ball the resident queens. probably the latest appropriate date, place a queen excluder between the When bees are trnnsferred from and even that date may be risky. Little two units with the hope that the bait hives with comb there is a choice can be done with a bait hive later in queen is in the upper one. Check the of discarding the brood and comb or the season except to feed it as well as upper unit again after three days. If saving some by cutting and tying it possible , place it on a hive stand, there are eggs, the queen is there; if into a frame. Saving comb is not easy, provide some winter protection, and not, remove the excluder for a few but it can be done. The easiest hope it survives until the bees can be days and repeat the process. method is to lay several pieces of moved to a permanent hive in the After the queen has been confined string parallel on a flat table, place a spring. in the upper super for 24

honey storage. In the Jong run, they Another important consideration is Further Information are usually discarded in favor of that a swarm may harbor disease that The follow ing publi cations are better-built wired combs. Their can spread to other colonies if the available from Cornell Cooperative advantage is that young bees from swarm is installed in an apiary. Extension. brood comb saved in this manner Therefore, inspect and monitor newly Beekeeping: General Infonnalion bolster the colony population, and hived swarms carefully, checking 139-IB-90. keeping brood in the new hive aids in especially for signs of American Identification and Prevention of preventing absconding. foulbrood or parasitic mites . American Foulbrood in Honey Bees 139-LFS-925.00. Package Bees: Their Installation and Special Considerations Immediate Care 139-IB-7. Some captured swarms may be Thomas D. Seeley is an associate pro­ Small-Scale Queen Rearing by Bee­ undesirable additions to an apiary. fessor in the Department of Neurobi­ keepers in the Northeast 139-IB-209. They may well be from stock with a ology and Behavior at Cornell Univer­ higher-than-average tendency to sity; Roger A. Morse is a professor in For ordering information, including a swarm or may have other drawb ac ks, the Department of Entomology, New free cata log of publications, films, such as being unusually likely to York State College of Agriculture and slides, and videotapes, visit any sting. Of course, the beekeeper can Life Sciences at Cornell Univeri;ity; Cornell Cooperative Extension county alter these and other inherited traits Richard Nowogrodzki is a research office or write to: by requeening. specialist in ap1culture in the Depart­ Distribution Center ment of Entomology, New York State 7 Research Park College of Agriculture and Life Cornell University Sciences at Cornell University. Ithaca, NY 14850

Cornell Cooperative Extension ,_.z Helping YouPut K now/,edge to Work

This publication is issued to further Cooperative Extension work mandated by acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914. It was produced with the cooperation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Cornell Cooperative Extension, College of Agriculture and LifeSciences, College of Human t:<:ology,and College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University.Cornell Cooperative Extension provides equal program and employment opportunities. Lucinda A. Noble, Director.

Produced by Media Services

86/155 rev. 10/89 3M MS E90176