Winter brings a respite from many beekeeping-related activities, but it also provides an opportunity to make some preparations for the season to come.

For me, this includes creating some custom beehive bases, that form the basis of new bait hives. These are empty boxes that hopefully attract bee swarms, rather than them ending up in roof cavities, inside walls or inside ventillation grills.

The bait hive is created by taking the special base, then adding two hive boxes on top, and then capping it out with a flat lid.

This season I’m planning on scattering these throughout a bunch of locations in the Inner West, saving me the effort of constantly chasing bee swarms. Wish me luck!