Well, it didn't take long.
I put a ladder up and went up to have look ala Iddee, and immediately took 2 to the head, one under my right eye and one behind my right ear. Promptly went back down and suited up. I forgot all about this not being a swarm with nothing to defend, these girls did and I forgot that.
I brought a tape measure along to size it up and as it turns out I had a perfect box for it. I had to remove one small slice of comb on the left that had nothing on it. I cut the end out of the box and made 2 notches in it to accommodate the branch. I raised the box right up around the swarm (I swear the box was perfectly made for this swarm) and when the branch fit into the notches of the box, I folded over the lid and taped it shut. I then cut off both ends of the branch sticking out of the box and handed it down to my neighbour who joined me.
I now have it at home and will let it settle down. I'm a little unsure what to do so a few days thinking will help me figure out where to go with this. Maybe a box with drawn frames on top, or just an old fashioned cut-out? It is going to rain a lot over the next day or so and daily highs are only going to be 6 C (42 F) sop I don't like the last option.
I have seen one other open air colony in my time but it was hanging down from a soffit back in Vancouver BC which has completely different weather than we do here. This was weird yet amazing, especially for this time of year. Bizarre.