Swarm Catching Bucket

Swarm catching bucket:

click image for high resolution version

The advantage to this design is that the bucket swivels and can be kept upright as it is lowered to the ground. It is also easy to pour the bees from the bucket to the hive without having to remove it from the pole. I drilled a couple of 7/16″ holes in the rim of a standard plastic five gallon bucket. I got a thin piece of steel that is 1 1/2″ wide and bent it in a U shape. You can buy this metal at your local hardware store. I drilled two more 7/16″ holes in the top ends of the U and a 3/4″ hole in the center of the bottom of the U. I took a standard paint roller extension handle and stuck it through the bottom hole. For a nut to hold the handle to the U, I cut the end off of an old paint roller handle and tightened it snugly. I used 3/8″ bolts to secure the bucket to the bracket with 3/8″ self-locking nuts to hold if all together. The self-locking nuts are required in order to leave the connection loose enough for the bucket to swivel but not work themselves off. I can extend this pole up to about 14 feet. They make longer poles.