Bait hives

Use of Bait Hives to catch swarms

A talk by Richard Simpson at Kilmington Village Hall, 2nd April 2026. 32 attendees

Richard explained that he had been experimenting with bait hives for a number of years, with variable results. Sometimes, a swarm would turn up and take over spare equipment in the apiary. Other deliberate attempts to lure swarms to new homes had not always been successful.

Why use Bait Hives?

It would be helpful if beekeepers could catch swarms from their own hives. This is not to replace good management practice but to catch the odd swarm that manages to avoid detection.
The beekeeper might also attract other swarms in the area to make increase.
This would reduce public nuisance and save bees, bearing in mind that only one in four swarms survive to the following spring.
By using bait hives, the bees make their choice of new home, and once settled, rarely leave.
The big incentive is that they are free!

Why not use Bait Hives?

The big question is ‘Will the new bees bring diseases with them? There is always a risk unless you know where they have come from. Putting a new swarm into a quarantine apiary will soon show up any problems.
The other big question is ‘What is the temperament of the new bees? This could be an issue if the new bees are destined for a beginner beekeeper. A competent apiarist should be able to cope with poor temperament.
Genetic contamination could be an issue for beekeepers who have used any form of stock improvement technique.
More bees could lead to forage overloading in an existing apiary. This does not apply where swarms replace winter losses.
Finally, extra bees mean extra work, extra kit and extra space.

Bait Hive Variables

• Cavity
• Position
• Lure

Cavity variables

Bee scientists have been studying colony preference for many years. Professor Tom Seely in America has carried out extensive research in the forests of NE USA and surrounding area. To establish cavity parameters, trees with bees were cut down, the cavity was cleaned out and its volume measured with sand. Other experiments offered artificial swarms at isolated locations the choice of different cavity volumes, recording the chosen size. These experiments were repeated numerous times with many variations of volume, entrance size and location, height off the ground and which direction the entrance was facing.

Preferred cavity checklist:

• +/- 40lit (range 20lit – 100lit)
• Small entrance, preferably at the bottom
• Easily defensible
• 5m – 7m above ground level
• Dry, but some wetting, light shade, some wind
• Orientation south or east (preferred)

As the image shows, bees are very adaptable. They can easily create their nest in horizontal cavities as well as vertical. However, this shape of cavity may not be convenient for beekeepers to use as a bait hive.

Position of bait hive

Although experiments show 5m – 7m above ground to be the ideal, it is more practical (and safer) to place bait hives at a convenient height for recovery. Dappled shade would be preferable to a hive in full sun.

In the wild, bee colonies are rarely close to each other, so to have a good chance of catching swarms from your own apiary, a bait hive should be placed some distance away. Some books say 300m is the average distance in the wild. Tom Seely recommends greater than 100m.

If we could plot the numbers of swarms vs distance the swarms travelled to their new home, this information could be summarised as ‘Near, but not too near’.

Richard’s experience

The Simpson Way

The lure

Commercial lures are based on the Nazanov pheromone, including substances such as geraniol, geranic acid, nerolic acid and citral. Nazanov pheromone is at the top of the hierarchy of attractants, followed by comb odour, non-comb and propolis odours. Lastly, odours of previous occupation by bee colonies can add to the attractiveness of bait hives. If you don’t have a synthetic product you can always use propolis and old brood wax.

Other home-made recipes:

• 2 parts citral, 1 part geraniol, 1 drop lemon oil
• Tincture of queen – see Roger Patterson on dave-cushman.net
• 10 drops lavender oil with 100ml of water
• Lemongrass oil – neat
• 2 tablespoons of beeswax, ¼ cup of olive oil, and 40 drops of lemongrass essential oil

There are many other forms of lure to be found on the internet.
So, why not give it a go.

DARG swarm trial

At this point it is pertinent to ask ‘What is a swarm?’ A prime swarm from a colony of 25,000 would be around 50%, or 12,500 bees, whereas a 2nd cast would only be a few thousand. Does swarm size affect choice of cavity size? Is there a one-size-fits-all bait hive? Research by Devon Apicultural Research Group (DARG) hopes to clarify some of these issues.

As a member of DARG, Richard helped the team organising a Devon-wide Citizen Science trial using bait hives so that sufficient data could be collected to answer a few basic questions. All the bait hives will have the same lure (Vita Europe Swarm Attractant). To date, there are over 370 ‘hives’ taking part. Watch this space. We hope to have a summary of the results at some point.

Vita Europe Swarm Attractant

• 18.75 ml of geranic acid
• 28.75 ml of citral
• 25.00 ml of geraniol
• 1.25 ml of rose oil
• 26.25 ml of pure ethanol
  ———-
  100 ml total

Swarming bees are often attracted to old propolis and wax.