Author Topic: I had to have one of these. (Read 10820 times)

Yankee11 · « **on:** October 18, 2014, 08:28:53 am »

I am not promoting these or have nothing to do with them, but, I held one in my hand yesterday and I bought one.

If this works I can see me using it. I remember several times doing inspections and finding swarms cells. I start looking for the queen and
can't find her. Put it back together saying Oh well, guess I'll loose this one. Now if these work and I can't find her, I'll throw this on the front, move on
and hopefully catch her and all the bees I would have lost.

http://orrbeesupply.wix.com/obs/swarm-bandit#!__swarm-bandit

lazy shooter · « **Reply #1 on:** October 18, 2014, 08:52:02 am »

You post this just when I thought I had everything. To my novice eye it appears to be a workable tool. I may have to get a couple for next spring as I have a couple of hives that are loaded, loaded with bees.

Yankee11 · « **Reply #2 on:** October 18, 2014, 09:44:08 am »

I'll post some pictures of mine when I get it.

My only concern is getting all the bees and queen out from inside the box once you move it.

brooksbeefarm · « **Reply #3 on:** October 18, 2014, 10:05:02 am »

It also traps drones? Jack

Yankee11 · « **Reply #4 on:** October 18, 2014, 11:47:34 am »

Yea, but that's not a problem is it?

I would just put it on if I find a hive with swarm cells then remove it when they swarm.

brooksbeefarm · « **Reply #5 on:** October 18, 2014, 12:17:13 pm »

They won't swarm without a queen, and if the swarm about to leave is in the bottom box with all the drones and workers wanting to leave, the queen would be hard to find? Not trying to give you a hard time Yank

but i have something similar that was made for the same purpose (made from wood dowel pins,back in iddee and tec's days). It didn't work for me, that is if we'er talking about the same thing? Jack

Yankee11 · « **Reply #6 on:** October 18, 2014, 12:28:41 pm »

From what I understand the queen leaves the hive and gets trapped in this box.

All the workers come out and go through the queen excluder. The queen comes out and gets caught in the box. You close off the entrance on back
of box and remove it. Then insert it into a new hive and open it up and the queen then leaves box and into the new hive.

Makes sense to me but we will see if it works in the spring.

kebee · « **Reply #7 on:** October 18, 2014, 12:50:52 pm »

If it works I will be getting one or two myself, in fact may get one to try out this spring anyway.

Ken

Perry · « **Reply #8 on:** October 18, 2014, 01:36:38 pm »

Interesting, and my first question was about drones as well (just like Jack

).
I wouldn't want to leave these on if away for any length of time as the new queens would be hatching out and the old girl would still be stuck there.

Yankee11 · « **Reply #9 on:** October 18, 2014, 02:38:06 pm »

Yea,

here is me.

In an out yard doing inspections. Open a hive , tada, swarm cells and old queen hasn't left yet. First I try to find her and no luck. But man I really need to get the rest of inspections done. Running out of time.

So, I could throw this on the entrance and check it again the next day, no swarm check it next day or so.

I had this happen several times to me this spring and I lost the swarm a day or 2 after the inspection.

If I can find the queen and remove her while I am there I will do that, if not I'll throw this on for a few days.

I figure it's worth a shot.

They say some commercial beekeepers have been testing them and they work. I figure for 30 bucks it's worth try.

Jen · « **Reply #10 on:** October 18, 2014, 05:57:57 pm »

Holy Schmoly! I could have use this last spring with my 10 swarms.

I would like to see a vid of it tho ~

Yankee11 · « **Reply #11 on:** October 18, 2014, 08:08:29 pm »

Maybe this spring I'll have one

Jen · « **Reply #12 on:** October 18, 2014, 09:11:27 pm »

That would be dandy

However I think the company should have a vid ~ I'm still not exactly clear on how this works

Yankee11 · « **Reply #13 on:** October 18, 2014, 09:16:07 pm »

yea i agree.

When I get mine I'll take some pictures and I think it will make more sense.

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #14 on:** October 18, 2014, 10:13:51 pm »

I could see the virgin queen skeedadling through the excluder slots because she might be small enough to fit.. But used as mentioned to catch the old queen seems a viable option for even larger apiaries.. just used in the specific situation mentioned only a few per apiary would be necessary..
I can see myself wishing i had about 5 of those next spring...

Slowmodem · « **Reply #15 on:** October 19, 2014, 07:33:15 am »

Those who get this, please keep us posted. It looks to me like it has potential.

Yankee11 · « **Reply #16 on:** October 19, 2014, 08:26:41 pm »

FYI,
I emailed the company about getting the queen and bees out from inside the trap once the queen enters. His reply is below.

Hi Steve,

Sorry for the delay in response, our internet has been down.

After you have swept the bees from the exterior, you simply move the remaining bees and queen that is trapped inside the Swarm Bandit to the entrance of the new hive. Reopen the sliding door and yes, the queen will file into the new home in a matter of minutes. They are looking for a new home, you’re simply providing it for them.

If you can provide them a couple of frames of drawn out comb, either empty or from the hive they swarmed from, the queen can go to work immediately. The Swarm Bandit also allows you to control the amount, or numbers of bees, that are swarming so not to weaken the swarming hive too excessively.

The best part, it ALL takes place on the ground, not on a ladder or in a tree!

The whole processes takes approximately 5-7 minutes after the swarm has settled.

Barbarian · « **Reply #17 on:** October 20, 2014, 02:21:10 am »

I won't be buying one of these.

It is not convenient for me to return to my out-apiary every day or two to check on the device. I would be concerned that if it works as promised then the parent hive could be left strong with a crop of queen cells. That could be a recipe for "after swarms". If "after swarms" didn't occur then there would arrive a newly mated queen in a strong hive. Such a situation could mean a long wait for the new queen to start laying.

If I had a non-swarmed hive with a crop of Q cells and I couldn't spot the queen, I would do a splitting manipulation taking account of the situation. It might take slightly longer at that visit but be a time and labour saver overall.

tecumseh · « **Reply #18 on:** October 20, 2014, 05:45:26 am »

my computer does not recognize the orrbeesupply link. I am GUESSING this is a redo of the old drone trap design which should also trap queens or virgin queens.... I would be extremely leery of any claims made about some device that is 'reinvented' on a 40 year cycle whereby the old becomes new again.... fad are fads and none seem to work very well or last very long. If it is the same device (ie a drone trap) then after about 24 hours the trapped queen will likely be dead which I guess would limit swarming. Also without some exit for drones (and if it has one would the device still work as suggested???) the device will become clogged pretty quickly with dead drone bodies which at least here would encourage lethal results.

lazy shooter · « **Reply #19 on:** October 21, 2014, 07:43:14 am »

Tec:

Thanks for the above post. I was contemplating ordering one of these contraptions. You saved me some bucks. Good on you for sharing your vast knowledge.

Lazy