I am not experienced in "trapping" swarms, but I have read a lot about it. I believe that if you know where that special tree is where all the swarms land every year, that that would be a good place to start. I have a tree that every year it seems I collect a couple of swarms off of. That is where my first trap will be located. Then I will start the quess work about the others. :-D
I wish I knew of any "special trees". It would make things alot easier for me.
You dont need a special tree to be successful. Use a good design (like Robo's sona tubes) with a good lure (like lemongrass oil) and a couple of old dark combs. Keep it off the ground. The books say about 10 ft but I place mine within reach without a ladder. Put it in a shady spot and if they are there they will find it. I plan on setting out several on a friends property this spring. He has a comb honey apiary just down the road but last year I just put them back in my woodlot and catch was 100%. I left them out for at least a week after I new they had worked and let the queens start laying. Popped the frames out, dropped them in nuc's and took them to a new location for the summer.
That is my plan, although I have no experience building or setting swarm traps. I hope they are successful. However, if you knew of a tree where bees swarmed to every year, that would make things a whole lot easier, that is my only comment.
ArmucheeBee
Sona tubes are the cardboard tubes that they pour concrete in to form pillars. They come in many sizes but the one to get is 12". They are about 7.00 at Lowes for 6' X 12". You get 3 traps out of each. They are very light but strong. This makes them easy to get up in a tree. The link below shows a pic with a small frame because that is what Rob had handy but they hold up to 4 deep frames. I leave the swarm alone for a week + so the queen has started laying. All you have to do is remove one end, pull the frames out and drop them in a hive body. Here is a link to a post Rob made on them
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,13766.15.html
I went to Lowes to get the supplies, and the tubes there were about $11.00 for one 12"x4' tube. I don't know if my area is out of wack or what, but that makes the price about $10 per trap (one 4' tube can make two traps, plus the cost of the lumber to attach to it). Not a big deal, but it doesn't make them super cheap, at least from my perspective.
Anyway, I plan to set one up about 20' away from a few hives I have at my home, and another one in the woods near my gf's place (just hoping I get lucky). I've been looking for a third place to set them, maybe a friend's place, who knows. Again, just hoping to get lucky. If I can spend $10 and get a free swarm, why not? Anyone think I'll be sucessful with my 'random' placement of swarm traps?