Easy swarm catch from my bee yard in late May 2013:
I am glad I am ocd about my hives checking them often, especially in the evening. I was sitting on my four wheeler admiring the yard when I saw something out of order. The bluebird box directly in front of my original 4 hives was fully covered with bees. I am so glad I have extra equipment on hand. Rode back to the shop and grabbed what I needed. I rocked the pole back and forth and then pulled it out. Shook the bees off in the deep. Presto, done! Fanning commenced quickly. And, as soon as I was done, I looked up and saw a beautiful rainbow. How about that ending? I went about the yard looking at the hives to see if I could tell where they came from. All looked normal. I suspect my hot hive with the 4 supers on it. It has been really full since early spring but I decided not to split them as I don't like messing with them. They were the only hive a few nights ago, 10pm, that had large numbers on the outside of the entrance and were buzzing pretty good. I don't know yet what clues to look for outwardly for signs of swarming, if any? I suppose it's possible this swarm came from outside my yard? The swarm was bigger than any of my recently caught swarms so it wasn't any of them. If you were wondering, the box was vacant between nesting times. I hope they all go for the box when they swarm in my yard because that was a ten minute job at most to take care of.
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