Old Brood Comb for Swarm Bait

Description

Including old brood comb in your bait hive is extremely beneficial for attracting scout bees. The comb imparts multiple smells unique to a beehive, making your swarm trap seem like a former hive location. This communicates to the bees that it may be favorable for their home. But there’s a catch-22 for people trying to get started in beekeeping by catching swarms: old comb helps to attract bees, but you don’t have old comb until you have had bees.

If you’re trying to maximize your chances for catching swarms but don’t have access to old brood comb to include in your bait hives, this brood comb, taken from my own hives, may be your answer. It’s a small piece, but the point is to provide a source for the beehive smells with which the bees are familiar. Because the bees’ sense of smell is magnitudes stronger than ours, it doesn’t take much to provide the smells of “home” to encourage them to choose your swarm trap.

• Source: Cut from old brood frames rotated out of my own, untreated hives.
• Size: Approximately 2-1/4″ x 3″
• Usage: Place old comb on a frame in the bait hive, securing between wires or rubber-banding in place. If a swarm trap without frames is used, simply place the comb anywhere inside of the swarm trap.