Subject: Nasonov Pheromone

From: [email-masked] (vger)
Date: 25 Jul 1996 04:15:07 GMT

I have just gotten interested in beekeeping this year.  I plan to start 
keeping bees next spring.  So, in preparing for that time in my life, I've been 
reading alot.  Like "ABC and XYZ in Bee Culture" and "Hive and the Honeybee". 

   In "Hive and the Honeybee" it talks about using Nasonov to attract swarms.

   My question is, "Has anyone used this, and if so does it work?"

   On the Gears home page, Dr. Justin Schmidt (associated with the USDA and 
Arizona State) is shown with swarm traps that use Nasonov to attract swarms of 
European and Africanized bees.

   Is this just a scam or does it really work?

   [email-masked]

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From: Dave Black <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 25 Jul 1996 12:43:12 +0100

In article <[email-masked]>, vger <[email-masked]>
writes
>   My question is, "Has anyone used this, and if so does it work?"
I just know I'm about to be proved wrong but so far I haven't met anyone
who says it works. What does is a pile of old  bee boxes. This is
because ( I reckon ) swarms aren't just out there looking for a home.
They have a fair idea were they're going to start with. If you have old
boxes around for weeks there is some chance of the scouts finding them,
and they're not particularly responsive to nasonov scents which are used
under different circumstances. After all why should a swarm, in normal
queen 'right' conditions fly to an scent produced by (presumably)
another colony. If I were that swarm I'd go in the opposite direction !
-- 
Dave Black
Blacks Bee Gardens, 
Guildford, GU1 4RN.  UK.

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From: [email-masked] (Aaron Morris)
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 96 08:49:35 EDT

In article <[email-masked]>
 
>>   My question is, "Has anyone used this, and if so does it work?"
 
I can't offer anything specifically to the nasonov scent discussion, but
I can direct attention to last month's American Bee Journal which contained
an article about bee balm (monarda).  The article said that it is not the
bees' attraction to the bee balm's flowers that earned the plant its
common name, rather it's the bees' attraction to the leaves!  The claim was
made that rubbing the leaves of bee balm on a site will attract bees
to that site.  Personally I don't know where to get nasonov (other than the
glands on a bee's behind) but I know where to get bee balm - I rue the
day I planted it in my perennial garden as it is now invading everywhere!
If you're looking to attract swarms, monarda may serve you well.
 
Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee!