Beez in the Trap

Prior to my arrival in Jamaica, Iver, another intern, and Kwao, my host father, built and hung seven trap hives. We checked them about a week later and three of them had bees! Whether the hives have a queen is unknown, the bees might just have been hanging out there for a bit before returning home. But hopefully when we go to take them down there will be bees everywhere!
We also built two more trap hives using bamboo for the sides. It was a lot more difficult than using wood, but the bamboo was free, scavenged from a forest not too far away.

Me and Kwao cutting the sides

Me and Iver assembling the trap hive

Beautiful bamboo siding--how can the bees not want to live here?

Once the hives were built we painted the inside with lemongrass tea (to attract the bees) and hung them up near an exposed hive someone in town knew about. The exposed hive is ridiculous--it is just a colony of bees building their comb off a tree branch!--but it has allegedly been swarming a couple of times a year so we're hoping for our traps to pick up one of the swarms.

Totally exposed!

Once Tom, our bee expert, arrives our biggest challenge will be getting enough bees for everyone who wants to participate in the workshop, so the more beez in the traps, the better!