Swarm Catcher 5 gallow water bottle in action

A dry run before we did it for
real


Lined up.... ready... see the links below for more

George Andl was at the Oakhurst Gardens and spotted a swarm from the large hive in the Garden Apiary. I came with the handy swarm catcher 5 gallon water bottle. The bees were approximately 20 feet hing in the tree. 10 minutes after our arrival we had the bees in the NUC Box. They went to George's house.

http://www.youtube.com/user/jdjonesiii?feature=mhum

http://s121.photobucket.com/albums/o222/fairyringz/Bucket%20swarm/?albumview=slideshow

Medium Frame used in a Deep Box

Nylon fishing line was used to hold the pine
board against the medium frame.


Click on any picture for a larger view

I did a split and did not have any honey in a deep frame to put in the new split. Here is what I did and it worked out well. I cut a piece of pine the exact size to make up the difference between the medium frame and the deep frame. I then tied the pine board to the bottom of the medium frame with fishing line. It worked really well. When the split got established, the modified medium frame was removed from the deep box and replaced with a regular deep frame. I extracted the honey in the medium frame.

Swarm catching made easy with a 5 gallon water bottle

Cut the Bottom Off


Tape the bottom to keep the Epoxy in


Be sure to push the insert down on the tape really
hard. You do not want the epoxy getting into the
paint roller handle cavity.


Finished product after tape removed. Water Bottle,
paint roller handle cut off, and epoxy.


This is the paint stick from Lowes expandable


The paint stick screws into the pain roller handle


Extender pole screwed in to Paint Roller Handle


Pole is expandable from 8' to 16' and in between


Pole extended

Take a look at the you tube link of the water bottle turned into a swarm retrieval device. I made one. It turned out so well I thought I would pass the pictures on and the technique. Total material cost about $67 plus tax. You can use the pole for other things since it is a painting product that extends from 8' to 16'. The parts came from Lowes.

YouTube links showing how this works

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0FAiOB9MzIY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jATmzF5UZ1Q&feature=player_embedded

Material List:
Sherlock Extension Pole from Lowes Paint section #190227 $41
5 gallon Primo Water bottle empty Lowes #307099 $ 8
60 minute Loctite Epoxy 8 oz #176220 $16
Paint Roller Handle to embed in epoxy #235010 $ 2

John Jones Stone Mountain, Georgia

A Friends Swarm - Piedmont Park Atlanta, Georgia

Every now and again you run into very interesting things being a beekeeper. A swarm is one. I have been beekeeping for a number of years with my father in Jr. High and High School and later in life now. I have never seen a swarm. Only pictures of some. A bee buddy of mine had his best hive coming out of winter swarm twice. One one day and again a day later. He had bait hives in the area and was hoping one of the two swarms would take the bait hive. No luck. George took some great pictures and I hope he will enter one or two of these in the calendar picture contest being done by the Metro Atlanta Beekeepers. They are great pictures.

Solar Wax Melter

The Plan (click on any picture for a larger view)

Steve's and my wax melter framed out

Wax Melter holds two deeps

Aluminum pan funnels melted wax to collector.
Hardware cloth keeps things from slipping.

Temperature went from 70 degrees to 109 quickly.
Then the sun went behind a cloud.

Finished. Solar Wax Melter....$65

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~reute001/Plan%20files/pSolar%20Wax%20Melter.pdf

Forever I have wanted a solar wax melter. The goods one are pricey. The cheep ones are not that good. I copied a plan and while I had the table and chop saw set up made two. One for Steve Altom and one for myself. Total cost including the Acrylic $65.00 for one which is a bargain. This plan has a few angles which were tricky. It worked out. Steve and I decided not to do the double pane glass (Acrylic). Another one could be added if needed later. It was 70 degrees out today. I briefly set it up and the temperature went to 109 real quick. Then the sun went behind a cloud. Oh well.. This Wax Melter will hold two deep frames (see picture). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm-v8YJJ1Cs You tube link.

Modifications to the original design.

Three things were done as modifications to the original design. Have you every noticed that certain people cannot leave something alone and have to keep doodling. I am one. Anyway, 1. A handle was added to the end of the Solar Wax Melter. This really makes moving the Melter around much easier. 2. Screws were added to the platform inside the Melter to hold it in place. This keeps the platform in position when I bring the Wax Melter inside. 3. The original legs for the back of the unit were removed and a single leg was added. This allows the leg to be tucked up against the Wax Melter's body and the Wax Melter then can be carried in a car easy, stored in the corner and not take up much room, or it just gets the leg out of the way while moving the Solar Wax Melter around. See Photos showing the modifications.

A single leg replaced two legs in the plan. The

leg folds against the Solar Was Melter.

The new style leg extended. Note the handle

to carry the Wax Melter and to asst in moving

it around.

Screws hold to wax platform securely.

See the Results

Outside temperature at the Picnic Table 74.

Temperature inside the Solar Wax Melter

View of the Thermometer

1-29-2011 warm day I gave bees some pollen back

On January 29, 2011, I decided to take some pollen I had put back and give it back to the bees. The pollen pellets they made were put into a coffee grinder and ground back to pollen powder. This was a great day of about 62 degrees and he 1st great day we had after some real cold for the past months. The powdered (real) pollen was poured into a container and put on top of a hive not in use. If you ever do this you need a container with high sides as the bees wings like to blow the pollen out of a shallow container. Loss of a lot of pollen.

It was not 20 seconds before the bees came over to see what was going on. In all my years beekeeping, this is the first time I had done this and it was a trip. The bees loved it. They would dive in the pollen, roll around, jump up and down. It was really funny. I did not have my veil on and they could care less of who I was. Look at this YouTube video I uploaded and you tell me if you think they had a good time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlk34_pAZUk

New Metro Atlanta Beekeepers Association Logo