Bananas

[NigelP]

I stand corrected.....It appears Lemon Grass oil does contain some of the smae chemicals wafted into the air by the bees nasnov glands.
"Together with the QMP, the secretion of workers’ Nasonov gland functions as a cohesion factor for swarm clustering. When the swarm leaves the hive it settles in a temporary location; the first bees reaching the site immediately expose their Nasonov gland to call the rest of the swarm. Here a certain number of workers, called scout bees, are in charge of finding a new suitable place to establish the nest. When a scout bee finds a potential nest site, it communicates the location to the other workers by the waggle dance, then returns to the site and starts to release the Nasonov pheromone to drive the swarm exactly to the new nest entrance (Free 1987; Seeley 2010).

The potential of Nasonov gland components in attracting clustering bees was demonstrated in behavioral assays (Free et al. 1981a,b). Among the various components, geraniol, (E)-citral, and nerolic acid were the most attractive ones. In further studies a synthetic pheromone blend was able to attract swarms to the artificial nest cavities where it was applied (Schmidt 1994, 1999)."

So in this case it is identical chemicals, not similar smells made by different chemicals.

[Patrick]

As any boat fisherman knows, anyone taking a banana on board is certain to dramatically reduce catches and cause mishaps.

Only throwing said fruit overboard stand any chance of remedying the situation. A curved fruit of mysterious powers..

[AdamD]

I agree that my bait hive was too close to really be effective - 500 metres would be better - although as it was outside a building where some beekeeping stuff is stored, it was an easy hive to set up.

I don't usually try with bait hives. They have never worked for me thus far on the few occasions I have set them up, although I have "caught" swarms that have appeared in hives when I wasn't looking for them.

[huntsman.]

If using lemongrass oil as a bait hive attractant, remember, like fine perfume, it should whisper and not shout.

The tiniest amount is all that's required. Such as a cotton bud with the oil very lightly dabbed in a few places.

[Steve 1972]

I agree that my bait hive was too close to really be effective - 500 metres would be better - although as it was outside a building where some beekeeping stuff is stored, it was an easy hive to set up.

I caught a swarm in a nuc several years ago..when i went through it i found my own Queen with a Blue dot on her..the hive the bees had swarmed from was around 30 yards away..

[AndrewLD]

If using lemongrass oil as a bait hive attractant, remember, like fine perfume, it should whisper and not shout.

The tiniest amount is all that's required. Such as a cotton bud with the oil very lightly dabbed in a few places.

Agree entirely, too much can see lots of interest and no takers...
Plus, the bait hive should ideally be of the right capacity, facing in the right direction, solid floor, small entrance (shaded) etc - see Cornell University's very useful paper on them (Google it)
Heard an interesting talk from Jed Marshall - swarm prevention/management and bait hives - non of this swarm control stuff.
And I was being sarcastic in a previous post - did I imagine bees taking possession of a hive days before swarming? No, I didn't imagine it - I have seen it a number of times with the bait hives on my garage roof - little so-and-so get quite possessive until the swarm occupies it - and are easily scared off......

[NigelP]

Heard an interesting talk from Jed Marshall - swarm prevention/management and bait hives - non of this swarm control stuff.

Do go on Andrew....what was he saying.

[AndrewLD]

Heard an interesting talk from Jed Marshall - swarm prevention/management and bait hives - non of this swarm control stuff.

Do go on Andrew....what was he saying.

Said the spy to the fly.....

The thrust of it was that the commercial beekeeper could not afford the luxury of weekly inspections and having to deal with swarm cells. The emphasis was therefore on low swarming queens, giving space in advance of requirement and the use of bait hives to catch swarms. This, he thought equated or more than equated to the swarms lost......

In nutshell, that was it and I remember speaking to him afterwards to say how it had matched my own own thinking.

To expand further would be my thinking and not his - and I am not sure I care to share that with you.

[NigelP]

yup agree, low swarming queens (I know Jed uses Buckfast) and space management are usual. Nothing new there.
I have an "new" revolutionary method of swarm control that really works. Not sure I'll be sharing it on a public forum until due acknowledgment crediting me is made. A few select people been told about it and "oh wow" is the usual response.

[Patrick]

I may have heard the same talk some while back.

Along with some pictures of impressive stacks of supers, I took away from it the critical part to prodigious crops and minimal intervention swarm prevention was purchasing Queens from the right supplier, which I am sure has much merit