Ridiculous Desperado....

[SerenaSYH]

After lurking and lurking at our forum, I keep fantasizing about what if a swarm were to come locate at my house, haha! Beehives and beekeeping are completely illegal in my county.. What are the chances and ways to attract a feral swarm but without breakin' the law? My bees must be coming from a wild hive somewhere and I'm stumped as to where at! To me the easiest to get a real hive is by trying to lure a feral swarm and hope they will STAY! My yard soon will be filled with Tons and Tons of Russian Sage. And my goal is eventually to have more Russian sage than there is grass on my lawn if I had my way, haha! But are there natural ways to attract a swarm other than rigging up a swarm trap (which would be illegal). Do bees ever camp out (swarm) near an important food source....And can they acclimate to the presence of "intruders" like myself and my border collie and our frisbee....racing through without getting cranky???

It seems that on a small scale the honeybees do great with our intrusive behavior. Several times I've forgotten and leaned and pushed on the oregano while trying to photograph my roses for example, and plenty of frisbees have landednear them  right on top of the russian sage where they are feeding, but honeybees seem to take it all in stride....

So any hints as to attracting a swarm without the swarm trap....And when is the prime season for trying to lure a swarm into one's backyard, lol! Also a miscellaneous question...How long does it take a s feral swarm to build its natural home and hive?????

[David McLeod]

If you know about swarm traps then apply that to any sort of natural or man-made cavity on your property. I take them out of homes and structures on a regular basis and all they really need is a suitable sized dry cavity. It would amaze folks but I bet I could find such a place on almost anyone's home, not that I would recommend purposely attracting bees to reside in the home. Itcs just that there are far more holes and cavities in our home than most folks realize.
If you have an outbuilding you can donate you can create just such a place by making sure there is no insulation between the studs and there is at least a 3/8" gap on the exterior. You can "bait" this cavity with old brood comb and/or lemon grass oil.
Another option might be to provide some "gums" or sections of hollow logs for them. It would be a fine line between purposely setting a swarm trap and providing "wildlife habitat".

[T Beek]

Why not work toward changing the ordinance preventing beehives in your County? 

There's lots of info available for beekeepers dealing with folks who know nothing about the benefits of having bees around.  Major cities (Minneapolis now allows bee hives) and small communities around the globe have been reversing laws that once restricted bee hives, so it appears that now is a good time to help spread the truth/word and change dumb laws.

As for your question, I've always had better luck catching swarms (mid-summer being the most prevelant season) with an empty super or two (a complete, empty hive) set up in the beeyard and scented with a bit of lemongrass oil and some old comb, rather than swarm traps, although I keep trying :)

thomas

[derekm]

cavity - 20L to 40L any shape 
entrance facing south
entrance 15 to 30 Sq cm
entrance at bottom of cavity
old comb

[FRAMEshift]

I agree with Tbeek that you might want to work to educate your elected officials and get the law changed.  

If you really want to be a desperado,   just buy a nuc or package and install the bees in a natural or man-made cavity.  Once they are established, remove any human produced materials  (frames, foundation, etc) and then you have your hive.  This is sure to work.  Attracting a swarm is not a sure thing.

 If you don't want to have problems with the county inspectors,  just don't talk about your bees with neighbors.   If anyone notices your hive, act surprised.   :evil:

[L Daxon]

I agree the first thing you need to do is get the county to change the ordinance.  That could be easier now as bees are more popular than ever, thanks to the publicity surround CCD.  People are starting to "get it" that bees are important and they are disappearing in the wild so commercial and hobbyist beekeepers are needed.  I was amazed the last two years when I worked the bee both at the state fair how many people came up asking, "How are the bees doing?  Are they still disappearing?  Thank you for helping save the bees."

You are very unlikely to catch a swarm this time of year.  Most hives are shutting down for winter, not reproducing.  Best time to catch a swarm would be late spring, early summer. Sometimes you might get a Sept. swarm but not often. I caught a small Sept. swarm in OKC two years ago, but most of the swarm calls I get are in May and June.

If you did catch a swarm it most likely would build up fast (again with some variance with time of year and flow).  But they come out of the old hive full of honey and ready to reestablish themselves so they can really get after it when it comes to drawing out comb and laying eggs in those early weeks after picking a new permanent home.

Linda D.

[derekm]

how/why did such laws get there in the first place? seems a bit weird to us across the pond.

[Michael Bush]

Lemongrass essential oil and QMP make the most irresistible swarm lure.  If you can put some old comb in as well, all the better.

[Tommyt]

how/why did such laws get there in the first place? seems a bit weird to us across the pond.

seems a bit weird
Its just a bunch of politicians that know whats better for us, to do on our own property.
I live in one of those places that allow zero,but you can have a 1000's living in trees and attic's just no frames :?
just 5 blocks away is county you can have Horse's,chickens,bees,and I believe elephants
 City Limits no bees period.
 Tampa is going through laws now and looking at chargeing 200.00 for keeping in city limits,don't know all specefics other than the 200 fee was on the table
 my lovely city won't listen to anything,they won't allow bees within any owned or maintained
lands most other cities near here have a few corners of public land that they allow bee hives.
You need to get lucky,have a political friend but at least they are allowed.
 I just lost out to one preserve,The keeper ther, is not from our county but 50 miles away,I'm betting
someone is getting some good return for allowing those bees to stay.I won't bump it at all
because I still feel its good bee's are allowed,If it became a stink I think all would loose

Tommyt

[derekm]

you guys say city limits, but from  my visits to the states that can include suburbia with 1/2 acre plots and bigger? So why? and why so widespread a restriction across the U.S. ?  There is nothing like that I know in all of the UK. Is honey condemned as a feedstock to illicit  hooch?   You cant blame that one on King George

[FRAMEshift]

Two issues here. 

1. Are you willing to take your chances with violating the rules?

2. If the answer to #1 is yes, what is the best way to establish a "natural" hive?

I don't know the answer to #1.   The answer to #2 is to use a nuc or package. 

[Scadsobees]

I'd challenge you on the premise that beekeeping is illegal in your county.  That is a very large area.  City, township, maybe. Assuming that your profile is correct, there are other Kansas City beekeepers.

http://www.inkkc.com/content/kansa-city-is-buzzing-with-backyard-beekeepers/

Not saying you are wrong, but it definately is worth another look.

Technically it isn't illegal in my township, but it could be if they wanted to interpret some stupid township codes a different way.

[derekm]

i'm astounded - closeto a hundred U.S.  cities have been found to have made bee keeping illegal. http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/blogs/bees/illegal-urban-beekeeping-0602
This ma be old news to you but I'm gobsmacked.

[BlueBee]

Derekm, we’re a country run on fear, doesn’t surprise me at all.

TommyT, is it illegal to keep bees in any part of Hillsborough county?

[Tommyt]

Hillsborough county is legal the Cities are not

[prestonpaul]

Have you thought about an observation hive inside? A nice big one, four frames high and 2 deep so there is plenty of room.
 Not that I would encourage you to break the law, but out of sight out of mind  :-D

[D Semple]

>Beehives and beekeeping are completely illegal in my county.

There are no county wide restriction around KC that I know about, but I'm guessing that you must be in Overland Park also, which has a 3 hive limit and distance restriction with our neighbors.

>What are the chances and ways to attract a feral swarm but without breakin' the law? My bees must be coming from a wild hive somewhere and I'm stumped as to where at!

Great, we have lots of feral hives around here in KC and I would bet money you have at least a couple feral colonies within a mile of where you live.

>My yard soon will be filled with Tons and Tons of Russian Sage. And my goal is eventually to have more Russian sage than there is grass on my lawn if I had my way, haha!

Very neat.

>But are there natural ways to attract a swarm other than rigging up a swarm trap (which would be illegal).

Drill a 1" hole in the soffit on the south or east side of your home and bait it early next April and I bet you'll have a colony move in, in no time at all.

>And can they acclimate to the presence of "intruders" like myself and my border collie and our frisbee....racing through without getting cranky???

Ours tolerate our bird dogs and grandkids just fine.

>And when is the prime season for trying to lure a swarm into one's backyard, lol!

Here in KC mid April thru Mid June


Good luck Serena, if you need a hand just holler. Also, we have 2 great local beekeeping clubs here in Kansas City that meet monthly. Check out www.nekba.org