It's swarm season and a good time to try to attract one to our bee yard. So today I set up a swarm trap/bait hive. It looks the same on the outside but inside it has only two frames of drawn comb instead of nine frames. (For non-beekeepers drawn comb are frames the girls have already built on. You start with wax foundation which is like a blueprint. The bees build it out to make cells for pollen and nectar storage and egg laying. I added a few drops of lemon grass essential oil to provide a scent that attracts the bees. Now we wait and see. I'm asking all the patrons of beekeepers to invite swarms to check out our lovely little dwelling.
On another note, while I was stealing drawn comb from one of the other hives I realized the girls are busy filling up the top box next door, so I'll need to give them another box. That is good news for honey production. The huge hive at the other end of the yard. also needs another box. We're out of drawn frames so we need to put together 18 new frames for the two "supers." (Why don't they just call them boxes?) That's a project for another day, but soon. If they run out of room they start thinking about swarming and we sure don't want that!
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