Catching swarms
There’s been a lot of interest amongst beekeepers about the surprise new research finding about swarming that will have implications for their swarm management.
In short, the research discovered that Vita’s swarm lures work remarkable well and that prime and secondary swarms have a slightly different behaviour pattern: prime swarms prefer branches close to the hive as their first settling place whereas secondary swarms will readily go straight into a hive.
So, for beekeepers, where you put the bait is of great importance depending on what you expect to catch. Of course putting the lure in a brood box (A&B) and on a branch (C&D) is a good belt and braces — or perhaps a brood and branches approach. 😉