Whimpy Hogan's

BEES, BEE PRODUCTS, AND HONEY

Box 27 Park City, Ky. 42160
cchoganjr@scrtc.com (270) 749-5191

The Hogan Bee Trap was developed to catch bees in trees, buildings, tanks,
etc. where you are not able to get to the bees directly. It is a simple way to
remove unwanted bees or to take starts to increase your number of hives.
This system is widely used in this area, as I have shared this method over the
years. Now Kelly Bee Company is offering this trap under the name of Swarm
Harvester.
The trap consists of a two piece transition, with one piece
fitted to a tree (or other source), and one piece fitted to a
deep super. There is a small red funnel in the transition
which is attached to the deep super. The funnel normally
only comes into play if you are wanting to eliminate the feral
colony.
Attach the female transition to the tree (or other area) with
nails or a ratchet strap.
Next, wrap the tree with black plastic to seal off all entrances
except the one going through the transition.
Allow the bees to come and go through the transition for a
couple of days to get used to using it as their entrance.
Next, slide the deep super with the attached transition into
the tree transition to determine where your stand needs to be
positioned. You can use bee boxes, tables, portable deer
stands, cables etc., to hold the trap in place. The transition
is a loose fit so there is some wiggle room.

Once you have the trap positioned, duct tape the two
transitions together to seal them. Place two or three frames
of drawn combs in the trap and place the inner cover and top
on the trap. The guard bees will move to the front of the trap
because this is now the entrance. Housekeepers and
cleaners will begin to clean the comb and trap. Allow the
bees to come land go for a couple of days as they get used to
the trap.
 As the bees come and go through the trap they
assume the deep super is an extension of their hive .
Once the bee are coming and going through the
hive you are ready to trap. The trap will work best if
you go into one of your hives and secure a frame
which has some unsealed brood on it. Don't take any
bees, just the unsealed brood frame. Place the frame
in the trap. Nurse bees, cleaners, etc. will come out
to work this brood frame. The queen may very well
come out to see who is laying eggs in her house.
Leave for one or two days, you should have enough
bees to move.
If you don't have enough bees in 2 or 3 days, place
a thin piece of plywood over the end of the tunnel
inside the trap. Now the feral bees can only leave the
colony by going through the small red funnel located
in the bottom front of the inside tunnel. The bees are
now trapped inside the trap, because they can no
longer return to the feral colony. Field bees will be
loaded with pollen and nectar and will deposit their
load in the drawn combs inside the trap. On their
next trip they will deposit cargo in the trap because
this is where they put their last load. As more and
more bees come through the funnel, the number of
bees in the trap increases. Workers and drones will
come through the funnel for cleansing flights and are
also trapped.

If your feral colony is a good one, you should have

enough bees in 2 to 5 days. You may just remove the
frames with bees on them, or move the trap by sliding
the trap from the tree, block the end of the funnel,
and move. If you just take the frames, and wish to
continue trapping, don 't forget to remove the
plywood from the tunnel and let the bees come and
go for a couple of days. Before moving the trap, make
sure the queen is not in the trap. If she is, place her
in the tunnel and she will go back to the feral colony.
 Hogan Bee Trap Instructions Page Three

Place a new queen with your bees and you have a new colony.

If you are wanting to take starts, and not eliminate the feral colony,
before moving your bees, make sure the queen is not in the trap. If she
is in the trap, catch her and place her in the big tunnel and let her go
back to the feral colony. If you move her, and you place a new queen
with your trapped colony, they will likely kill your new queen and you
will be out the cost of the new queen. Also, if you take the queen with
the trap, the feral colony will be queen less and will likely die,(unless
they are able to make themselves a new queen).
Leave the bees in the trap until the new queen begins to lay eggs,
then transfer the frames into a new hive, and place the trap back on the
feral colony.
Depending on the strength of the feral colony, you may be able to
take a second start as soon as just a few days to a couple of weeks. If
you intend to eradicate the feral colony, just keep trapping. You will
weaken the colony by reducing the number of bees in the feral colony,
and as their honey stores dwindle, it will die.
This system has worked for me for years. It is not at all uncommon
to take 3 to 5 starts per year from a good feral colony. My best was 9
starts from a Locus tree in 2001 near Horse Cave Kentucky.

If you have questions, contact me. I will do my best to assist you.

Cleo C. Hogan Jr.