Need Swarm Box or Bait Hive plans? Check out this honeybee bait hive made from those corrugated plastic lawn signs you see for politicians and yard sales. I've been making swarm boxes from old honeybee supers and old frames, but GardenFork viewer Howard upcycled some of those plastic signs you see in people's front yards.
Swarm boxes, aka bait hives are placed a few hundred feet from a beeyard in an attempt to attract any swarm that comes out of your beeyard. You'd rather not have a swarm go off and start a new colony in a hollow tree, its best to ‘recapture' the bees and put them in a hive.
Here's Howard's note to me:
I did not think it would work to attract a swarm, since it is made of plastic and not wood. Well, yesterday a swarm went into one on my deck, even with old deep boxes also being around. So I guess they might work after all. They are nice and light. Better to fill with frames if you have them, otherwise if you don't know there is a swarm in there soon after they move in, they will fill the empty space with comb from the top. Oh, for the top, I screwed another piece on top, then wrapped string around the whole thing so it can be hung from a tree limb. The frame is 1X3 lath I cut in two lengthwise.
Great way to recycle or upcycle some of those signs, which have a short life as a sign for an event or election. I have seen people use the wire stakes that hold those signs as plant supports in the garden.
How do you upcycle stuff? Let us know below:
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Vince Busche says
I use those wire stakes this year to string Christmas lights across my yard. It gives you just the right night.