How To

Items Included:

  • THE INTECEPTOR® PRO Honeybee Swarm Trap main body & telescoping cover. The main body is coated with real beeswax
  • Hanger with pre-drilled holes, bolts, and nuts
  • 5 Langstroth deep frames complete with foundation & beeswax coating
  • Envelope of swarm lure (keep refrigerated till use)
  • 1- 60d nail for hanging the trap
  • Tree strap & hooks to keep the trap from moving in the wind

Proper usage of The Interceptor
Honeybee Swarm Trap

  • 1 medium Phillips screwdriver.
  • The nuts are self-gripping. No wrench is needed.
  • Hammer (for when hanging the assembled and baited trap)

The hanger is inside the main body with its bolts & nuts. Remove the bolts from the hanger and slip the hanger up through the slot in the back and attach it to the back of the main body. All the holes for the bolts are pre-drilled. Do no drilling. Put the head of the bolts to the outside and the nuts to the inside.

Painting is not recommended.

  • Try to hang your trap on a tree as high as possible without using a stool or ladder.
  • Hang the trap facing east if possible
  • south is the second best choice.
  • Tree lines facing an open area are good locations.
  • If your INTERCEPTOR®PRO will move in the wind, strap the main body to the tree just below the word INTERCEPTOR (recommended).
  • Keep the hooks off the trap to the side or back of the tree.
  • Put the swarm lure envelope (unopened) in the bottom/rear of the trap.
  • When hanging the trap, slide all the frames to the rear so any open space will be near the entrance.
  • Dabbing a couple of drops of lemon grass extract (not included) on the landing pad with a Q-Tip will increase interest of any scout bees in the area. Just flip the Q-Tip into the trap through the entrance when finished.
  • The swarm lure envelop will be good for 4 weeks. Rebait your trap with Swarm Commander. It can be found on the internet along with lemon grass extract.
  • Once a swarm is captured, wait until you see bees bringing in pollen before moving and hiving the swarm
  • or wait 4-5 days. Have a new hive ready for them or call a local beekeeper if you plan on selling the swarm. If working with a local beekeeper call him/her with a “heads-up- call” on day 1 of the capture.

How to Reorient the Swarm Colony

How to reorient the captured swarm colony:
If a swarm is transferred to a permanent hive near to where they were captured many will drift back to where they were captured. They think their capture site is HOME.

What is honeybee reorientation?
Honeybee reorientation re-sets their “HOME LOCATION” to a new location. Not the same, but much like resetting your car’s “HOME GPS” when you move to a new house.

The general rule is:
A colony of honeybees DOES NOT need to be reoriented if moved less than 3 feet or more than 3 miles. Anything in between, one should reorient their home location when moved.

There are many methods to accomplish this reorientation. This picture shows one method. YouTube videos show other methods. For example, using a tree branch instead of a plywood barrier.

Learning Resources:

Honeybee Democracy by
Thomas Seeley

View Honeybee Democracy

Bait Hives For
Honey Bees

View Bait Hives

Go to THE INTERCEPTOR page on Facebook for several informative posts and videos.

You may call me whenever you wish. I always appreciate “swarm capture” pictures and/or videos of my customer’s successes.

There are many videos on honeybee swarm trapping on YouTube. I have other tips if you wish to call.