The Beeyard

The first two photos show the design of the “Hogan Bee Trap.”  A collar attaches over the hive entrance in a bee tree and is sealed such that the bees must pass through it in order to enter or exit the hive.

After leaving the collar in place for a few days, the rest of the trap is attached to the existing collar.  A few frames of drawn comb are added to the trap.  After several days, the bees will have accepted the trap as part of their hive.   The trap can now be activated by inserting the gate with the cone up, which prevents the bees going from the trap back into the tree while still allowing bees to exit the tree into the trap.  The bees now have no choice but to deposit their nectar and pollen into the frames within the body of the trap.  You can take “starts” 4 frames at a time without the queen and make new colonies with a new queen or you can keep trapping until you get the queen when she comes out to lay eggs in the trap.  The entire process can take 6 to 8 weeks to weaken the colony to the point of eradication.

- William H