You’ve assembled the frames, painted the hive, and set up the perfect apiary spot. Now your shiny new beehive sits empty and waiting for residents. What a frustrating scenario for an eager beekeeper! Getting bees into that vacant hive is absolutely key. Let’s dive into proven methods to lure a swarm to take up residence quickly.
Why Swarming Bees Scout for New Homes
Honeybees naturally reproduce by swarming – splitting off from an established hive to create a new one elsewhere. When a colony gets quite large, the old queen will leave taking more than half the worker bees with her. This swarm must now actively search for a suitable new home to start fresh.
The departing swarm may contain thousands of bees. Scout worker bees from the swarm will fly far and wide seeking shelter in hollow logs, abandoned structures, and cavities. They use scent cues, visual landmarks, size parameters and other factors to judge if a spot seems promising for their queen to establish a nest. Your manmade beehive with strategic invitations could fit the bill perfectly!
Pheromone Lures Signal to Scouts that Your Hive is Occupied
One of the most powerful tools to entice visiting scouts is hanging a bee swarm lure loaded with hive pheromones. These concentrated chemical scents send a clear message of “occupied colony here!” to investigative bees combing the neighborhood.
The substance Nasonov is a very common lure ingredient. Bees innately release this scent at the entrance of their hive to mark it as home. It provides a recognizable olfactory signal to guide other bees back. Other pheromones replicate scents of a strong queen, brood pheromone, and overall hive activity. The blend convincingly mimics a thriving colony.
Simply take a commercial swarm lure product, hang it inside the empty hive or at the entrance, and let the chemical smells do their work. Replacing lures every 4-6 weeks keeps the scent aura strong to continually attract scouts over time. The artificial pheromones broadcast a clear invitation.
Set Up Location to Maximize Sun, Wind Protection and Drainage
Picking the ideal hive placement in your backyard or property is another key factor so bees immediately recognize it as a prime living spot. Beehives naturally thrive when facing south towards the sun and prevailing winds.
Southern exposure gives the colony a sunbeam fixing point to orient off of throughout the day as they come and go. More sunlight and warmth help a small new hive grow quickly. The hive entrance should also angle eastward away from tough winds and rain.
Set your hive up off the ground on concrete blocks or bricks to prevent water seepage and dampness. Tilt it slightly forward so that any condensed moisture or rain can run out the bottom entrance. Location sets up livability and proper conditions.
Used Comb Provides Scent Residue Cues from Former Colonies
Want an easy attractant you may already have on hand? Old brood comb! The wax retains traces of chemical hive scents even long after the bees are gone. Reusing comb helps provide familiarity.
Try rubbing strips of old brood comb along the walls of your bait hive, or simply hang chunks of comb amidst the empty frames. Scout bees may detect echoes of pheromones left by former colonies in the comb. This residue indicates the cavity previously supported bee life successfully.
You can reuse comb from hives lost to mites, extreme cold, or other causes, as long as no foulbrood disease is present. It kickstarts the scent allure.
Sugar Syrup Provides Fast Energy and Sign of Abundance
Scout bees don’t just check for a livable space – they look for visible food stores! So make your hive hyper-enticing by providing an appetizing snack of sugar syrup. Mix up a 2:1 ratio of white sugar dissolved into hot water. The sugar adds quick energy while the water dilutes to a nectar-like consistency.
Lightly spray or paint this syrup concoction around the interior hive walls and at the entrance. Scout bees will take note that this home comes pre-stocked with an excellent food source. Keep a sugar water feeder provisioned both inside and outside once bees move in too.
Essential Oil Attractants Mimic Queen and Nurse Bee Scents
Certain natural aromatics like lemongrass, citrus and flower oils can help lure in bees by mimicking key chemical hive scents. Compounds like geraniol and citral are particularly noted to attract bees by replicating queen pheromone.
Look for commercial bee attractive scent pads formulated with these compounds, or make your own soaked cotton balls. Place them within the empty hive boxes. The fragrances will waft out the entrance too if positioned near the opening. To bees, the smells signify an active queen and caring nurse bees are present – very promising!
Paint Hive Bright Colors for Easy Visibility
Visual cues also help guide scout bees to home in on your apiary setup. Paint your new beehive with very conspicuous and vibrant colors – bright white, yellow, or green work well. This allows bees to easily spot it while combing the area.
Keep the visible area around the apiary clear of dense bushes, sheds or anything that could obscure it. Make that hive entrance open and obvious at a glance. Scouts will investigate a brightly colored spot.
Have Patience! Bees May Take Weeks to Choose Your Hive
Here is the last vital requirement – patience! Scouts seek numerous options, and may take several days or weeks to fully commit. Avoid the urge to frequently peek inside and risk disrupting their evaluation. The bees will come in their own time if location and attractants check the right boxes.
Replenish your bait substances regularly like the sugar syrup and swarm lures. But otherwise don’t interfere for at least 2-3 weeks so scouts can come and go freely. When dozens of bees start noisily checking out and landing on your hive, your new tenants have likely arrived!
Swarm Season Means Bees Seeking Homes
If a month passes with no tenants, don’t lose hope! Certain times of year see much larger numbers of swarms cast off seeking shelter. Watch for ads of local bee swarm collections and have your equipment ready.
The spring to early summer timeline is a major reproductive swarm season, with fall being secondary. Captured swarms are an easy way to populate a vacancy in one move. Buying starter nucleus colonies in spring is another route.
Prep your hive ahead of time with attractants so scouts instantly know they found paradise. Just a few scout bees checking it out will rapidly turn into a full house once they transport a swarm there!
Celebrate – Your Hive is Buzzing with Life!
After weeks of diligent waiting and preparation, finally seeing happy bees busily coming and going from a previously quiet hive is such a thrill. Those first scouts discovered it, claimed it, and now many more follow bearing pollen and wax to start construction.
Avoid disruptions during their delicate establishment phase. Don’t harvest any honey that first season – your goal is simply letting the colony settle and build up strength. Feed them generously through summer nectar dearths.
With time, patience and the right bait substances, your hive has gone from zero to alive with humming activity. Soon it will burst with brood, honey stores, and a bustling bee population ready for some hands-on learning! Enjoy watching your new apiary tenants thrive.
Attracting your first colony of bees to an empty hive can severely test your patience. But implementing a plan using swarm lures, strategic setup, and scent bait substances pays off. Before you know it, the bees will discover that welcoming domicile beckoning them.
Beekeeping takes persistence, creativity, and a spirit of collaboration with your buzzing hive partners. With proper preparation and attractants, you’ll have new bee buddies flying in soon. Stay positive and keep up your due diligence. The bees want to find you as much as you want to find them!