OK, you have decided to go with an aluminum screen cone. Good call. Aluminum screen is hardy, weather resistant, and a little bit pokey - so you can keep the bees from reentering. So now you are off to the local hardware store to buy an $8 roll - the smallest available - of aluminum screen wire. Pretty easy, and lots of replacement for when the first cone doesn't work.
You roll the cone as tight as possible, so that the bees can only get out one at a time from the tip of the cone. You fray the edge, so that all the pokey edges are pointing outward, making it harder for bees to return. And you seal up all of the other holes with expanding foam sealer, so that the bees have to go through the cone to emerge. The expanding foam sealer is goopy and sloppy, but after about ten minutes on the ladder (surrounded by very anxious bees), you can let go of the cone and it stays where it is. A little bit extra foam around the base to ensure that all of the holes are sealed up, and you are good to go.
Now it is time to place your trap box.
Your concept: Take a small box, of a shape and size that will be attractive to a swarm of newly homeless bees, and give them a place to live. Put frames in there, so that they can build comb, store nectar and pollen, and arrange living space. And perhaps most importantly, steal a frame of brood with eggs and ready-to-emerge bees, from another hive, and put it in.
The bees will take one of the eggs, perhaps more, and turn them into queens. At least, that is the theory. And then you hang your box.
This is not a simple task. You can't drill into the side of the building - it is historic brick. Besides being hard to do, it is also a structure of cultural significance, and randomly drilling holes is frowned upon.
So you come up with two solutions: a) you can tie the box off to an anchor of some sort (you decide on a window weight from an old fashioned window - $5 at the antique store) or b) you can buy an escape ladder ($35 from your hardware store), and attach the box to it. (You decided on the escape ladder.)
You are using the cardboard box you got when you bought your bees, and there are three of them, so you are good on that front. Now it is just a matter of anchoring it to the hanging ladder. Do you:
Attach it using tie-down straps? Click here,
or,
Attach it using bungee cords? Click here.
Now it is time to place your trap box.
Your concept: Take a small box, of a shape and size that will be attractive to a swarm of newly homeless bees, and give them a place to live. Put frames in there, so that they can build comb, store nectar and pollen, and arrange living space. And perhaps most importantly, steal a frame of brood with eggs and ready-to-emerge bees, from another hive, and put it in.
The bees will take one of the eggs, perhaps more, and turn them into queens. At least, that is the theory. And then you hang your box.
This is not a simple task. You can't drill into the side of the building - it is historic brick. Besides being hard to do, it is also a structure of cultural significance, and randomly drilling holes is frowned upon.
So you come up with two solutions: a) you can tie the box off to an anchor of some sort (you decide on a window weight from an old fashioned window - $5 at the antique store) or b) you can buy an escape ladder ($35 from your hardware store), and attach the box to it. (You decided on the escape ladder.)
You are using the cardboard box you got when you bought your bees, and there are three of them, so you are good on that front. Now it is just a matter of anchoring it to the hanging ladder. Do you:
Attach it using tie-down straps? Click here,
or,
Attach it using bungee cords? Click here.
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