Using Lemongrass Oil to Attract Honey Bee Swarms to a Hive

Table of Contents

Introduction

What Lemongrass Oil Does
The Connection to Nasonov Pheromone
Preparing a Bait Hive
Applying Lemongrass Oil
Choosing a Bait-Hive Location
Inspecting and Moving a Captured Swarm
Common Mistakes and Limits
Conclusion

Introduction

Lemongrass essential oil is used by beekeepers as an attractant in bait hives intended to catch reproductive honey bee swarms. It cannot force a swarm to enter a hive, replace a queen, or guarantee that bees will remain after entering. Its value comes from its odor, which contains compounds also found in the honey bee’s Nasonov pheromone. Scout bees searching for a nest may investigate a cavity carrying this scent, but they still evaluate the cavity’s volume, entrance, dryness, shelter, height, and location before the swarm selects it. Lemongrass oil should therefore be treated as one part of a complete bait-hive system rather than as a stand-alone method.[1][2]

1. What Lemongrass Oil Does

Lemongrass oil produces a strong scent containing geranial and neral, which are forms of citral. These compounds resemble components of Nasonov pheromone, an orientation signal released by worker bees. This similarity can make a bait hive more noticeable to scout bees searching the surrounding area. The oil does not duplicate the complete natural pheromone, and it does not imitate the queen’s pheromone as the original draft claimed. Queen pheromones help maintain colony organization and signal the queen’s presence, while Nasonov pheromone helps workers orient toward the colony, a swarm cluster, an entrance, a water source, or another location. Lemongrass oil is therefore an orientation-based attractant, not an artificial queen substitute.[2][3]

2. The Connection to Nasonov Pheromone

Honey bee Nasonov pheromone contains several compounds, including citral, geraniol, nerol, nerolic acid, geranic acid, and farnesol. Controlled research found that artificial nest cavities containing a slow-release blend of Nasonov components attracted more reproductive swarms than identical cavities without the pheromone. In one experiment, 19 swarms selected pheromone-treated cavities while four selected untreated cavities. Other research found that both Africanized and European honey bee swarms preferred blends containing nerolic acid, citral, and geraniol over simpler blends containing only citral and geraniol. These results support using a pheromone-related lure, but they do not prove that any quantity of lemongrass oil will produce the same result as a measured synthetic Nasonov blend.[1][4]

3. Preparing a Bait Hive

A bait hive should be dry, enclosed, weather-resistant, and large enough to interest a swarm. Research on artificial nest cavities shows that the cavity itself matters, so scent cannot compensate for a box that leaks, overheats, moves in the wind, or has an unsuitable entrance. A used hive box with sound equipment may appeal to scouts because traces of beeswax and colony odor indicate that bees occupied it before, although one study found that adding melted beeswax did not improve attraction when an effective pheromone lure was already present. Frames should be secure so they do not swing when the box is moved. Old comb can attract wax moths, ants, rodents, and robber bees, and comb from a colony of unknown health should not be used because it may carry disease contamination.[5]

4. Applying Lemongrass Oil

Only a small amount of lemongrass oil is needed because the undiluted scent is concentrated. A beekeeper can place a few drops on an absorbent material inside the bait hive rather than pouring oil across frames, foundation, or comb. The lure should release odor over time without leaving a large pool of oil that bees can contact. The application may need renewal after the scent fades, but frequent heavy applications are not supported by controlled swarm-capture research. Release rate matters: research with synthetic pheromone lures found that attraction and lure longevity depended on the amount of pheromone and the surface area from which it evaporated. Lemongrass oil should not be sprayed directly on a swarm or used as proof that an occupied hive has accepted its location.[5][6]

5. Choosing a Bait-Hive Location

The bait hive should be attached to a stable support and protected from persistent water intrusion and severe afternoon heat. It should not be placed where a captured colony would expose neighbors, children, livestock, customers, or pedestrians to risk. Scout bees compare multiple cavities, so even a scented box may be rejected when another location provides better shelter, volume, entrance characteristics, or surroundings. Competition from natural cavities and other bait hives also affects the outcome. The box must remain accessible because the beekeeper may need to close and move it after the swarm enters. Elevated placements may attract bees, but the benefit must be weighed against the danger of lifting a hive containing thousands of bees from a ladder or roof.[5]

6. Inspecting and Moving a Captured Swarm

Scout activity does not mean a swarm has occupied the box. Several scouts may inspect the entrance for days and then disappear because the swarm selected another cavity. Occupation becomes apparent when large numbers of bees arrive together and begin entering the hive. After the swarm settles, the beekeeper should allow the bees to organize before moving the box, unless its location creates an immediate hazard. Moving is often done after flight has ended for the day, with the entrance secured and ventilation maintained. The colony should then be transferred to a managed location where the queen, comb building, brood production, food supply, temperament, and Varroa destructor levels can be assessed. Lemongrass oil attracts a swarm to a cavity; it does not control mites, prevent disease, correct poor queen genetics, or ensure colony survival.[1][7]

7. Common Mistakes and Limits

The largest mistake is describing lemongrass oil as a queen-pheromone replacement. It resembles parts of the worker-produced Nasonov pheromone, not the full chemical signal produced by a queen. Other errors include using too much oil, placing the hive where it cannot be removed, checking it so often that scouts are disturbed, using contaminated equipment, and assuming every attracted colony is suitable for beekeeping. In areas containing Africanized honey bees, an unknown swarm may develop strong defensive behavior after establishing brood and food stores. A captured colony should be evaluated rather than placed beside a house or public area without monitoring. Lemongrass oil also should not be promoted as reducing aggression, colony stress, swarming, or later absconding because controlled evidence does not establish those claims.[1][4]

Conclusion

Lemongrass oil can help attract scout bees to a prepared bait hive because its main odor compounds resemble parts of the honey bee’s Nasonov orientation pheromone. It does not imitate a queen, command a swarm to enter, or guarantee permanent occupation. Successful swarm capture depends on the lure, cavity, entrance, shelter, placement, local swarm activity, and the choices made by scout bees. A small application inside a sound bait hive is more appropriate than saturating equipment with oil. Once a swarm occupies the box, it must be managed as a new colony and inspected for queen performance, temperament, disease, food, and Varroa mites.

Related Beekeeping Guides

Beekeeping the Right Way for Pollination and Colony Stability
https://hatchiseeds.com/pillar-beekeeping-the-right-way/

Large Beekeeping Systems: Stability and Performance Optimization of Colonies
https://hatchiseeds.com/large-beekeeping-systems-pillar/

Advanced Beekeeping: Productivity and Colony Health
https://hatchiseeds.com/bee-colony-health/

Insects and Pollinators — USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/animals/insects-pollinators

References

[1] Attraction of Reproductive Honey Bee Swarms to Artificial Nests by Nasonov Pheromone
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24242302/

[2] The Nasonov Pheromone of the Honey Bee: Bioassay of the Components Using Foragers
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24420468/

[3] Swarming Honey Bees Guided by Pheromones
https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/68.6.1079

[4] Criteria for Nest-Site Selection in Honey Bees: Preferences Between Pheromone Attractants and Cavity Shapes
https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/21.5.1130

[5] Honey Bee Preferences Among Artificial Nest Cavities
https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/83.2.271

[6] Thriving Hives: The Apiary—Beekeeping Essentials
https://extension.usu.edu/beekeeping/research/thriving-hives-the-apiary-beekeeping-essentials