Swarm Kit.....

[Jen]

Scott- "Anvil pruner...   hrm..  I have never had a need to prune my anvil...           What is an Anvil Pruner?

    palms on forehead laughing

[LazyBkpr]

Ahhh! OK,   never heard them called that before. I have a couple of those for cutting lines and hoses...   

[brooksbeefarm]

Scott, i was hoping someone would ask, i didn't know what it was either . I thought blue was doing what i do to my city nephew, i've sent him after sky hooks, left handed pliers, and two weeks ago i ask him to get me a pair of rubber gloves and when he brought them to me i told him he got me two right handed gloves  he went and got me another glove, said he tried it on and it was a left one. He's a good kid and gets a big kick out of it and says your days a coming uncle Jack and your going to be sorry you old fart. . Jack

[apisbees]

Nice swarm A lot of bees in the air but as long as the queen falls in the box the rest will follow. If not we shake again. Why is it the ladder we have is always 2 feet to short?
Anvil cutters have a single straight blade that cuts against a flat surface, I like pruners that have  the curved cutter they will accept larger branches and the branches don't slip out of the cutter when cutting off the branch. But I agree with Dave they are handy in removing the branch with the swarm or branches so you have better access to the swarm for shaking into a box. Far less vibration than trying to cut a branch off with a saw.

[blueblood]

Your right Apis, If I couldn't have a quality sharp pair of cutters I would prefer the prunners.

[riverbee]

yep dave ANVIL pruners........

i like them cuz i usually don't get up on ladders, like the swarms close to the ground, or will use a shorter ladder.  me and tall ladders don't mix well, having tipped them over or stranded myself on the roof of my house on a number occasions while my neighbors drive by and wave and wonder what i am doing up on the roof waving frantically at them to stop......

jack, do you know what 'plowers' are?......

btw, has anyone mentioned a card for call backs or honey sales?

[riverbee]

i resurrected this thread, and 'stickied' the topic at the suggestion of two members.  if anyone has missed this thread please feel free to add what you carry with you to collect swarms. 

[Gypsi]

3 gallon bucket duct taped to a swimmingpool pole, 8 ft, sheet, cardboard box, more duct tape

[LindsayBrower1]

Great discussion! Swarms are my favorite topic, and most adventurous memories!
My favorite tools would be
1) Bow Saw- be careful to cut slowly and support the branch as it is being cut... If the branch snaps quickly you will shake a bunch of the bees out of cluster.
2) Ladder
3) Rope to tie onto the branch for lowering the limb to the ground
4) Queen cage to identify her virgin or mated and a safe place to keep her will I bang the bees into their new home
5) Empty swarm box or Nuc with a few drawn out frames
6) Queen excluder in event the Queen is MATED, place between bottom board and hive body ( remove when you inspect after a few days and find that she is laying again- this is a good indication she is locked in to her new surroundings)
7) Good climbing shoes  Ive always dreamed of owning some pole spikes  LOL
8 ) strap to secure the lid during transportation
9) mesh to block the entrance during transportation
10) CAMERA! Cherish the memories and a job well done... A successful catch is both rewarding and fun to share. Good LUCK!

[riverbee]

thanks lindsay for your input!

[LindsayBrower1]

My pleasure Riverbee 

[capt44]

I carry 2 Five gallon buckets with vent windows cut in the sides for ventilation as well as a hole cut in the lid with #8 hardware cloth on it too.
I bump the swarm into the bucket and set it down for about 10 minutes and put the bucket and loose bees in my van.
I also carry a 21 ft extension pole with a 5 gallon water jug attached to the end of it.
An owens bee vac and a 100ft #12 extension cord.
Pruners, saw, 6ft folding ladder, Queen Catcher
I caught 63 swarms last season.                                                               

[Perry]

I carry 2 Five gallon buckets with vent windows cut in the sides for ventilation as well as a hole cut in the lid with #8 hardware cloth on it too.
I bump the swarm into the bucket and set it down for about 10 minutes and put the bucket and loose bees in my van.
I also carry a 21 ft extension pole with a 5 gallon water jug attached to the end of it.
An owens bee vac and a 100ft #12 extension cord.
Pruners, saw, 6ft folding ladder, Queen Catcher
I caught 63 swarms last season.                                                               

Am I ever glad you joined us Cappy, with swarm catches like that I think you may get tapped regularly for tips! 
Welcome to the forum.

[iddee]

Thanks for coming on board, capt.
A friend of mine has a bucket with a queen excluder on the top hole rather than hardware cloth. It allows the stragglers to enter, but the queen can't leave. Then he covers it to transport.

[Gypsi]

a proper lid with queen excluder would have come in handy, but I had no suit, nothing for bees, so I bought a sheet set at a dollar store, and a lace sheer curtain to hang over my hat.  Bucket duct taped to pool pole

[capt44]

I never thought about putting a queen excluder in the lid, sounds good on paper.
I just sit my bucket down and all the loose bees come to the bucket.
I then just sit the bucket in my van and take off.
The bees stay with the queen.
Had one Policeman stop me and ask what the sign mean't on the back of my van "Live Honey Bees" I said well I catch bees and move them.
He said are those bees flying out that window, I said yep I got a sign that says Live Honey Bees.
He had a look of terror on his face and said  Well have a nice day and left.
All the Police in this area know me.
I think most folks in Searcy see my Van and say   Look out here he comes.

[LazyBkpr]

LOL   I am going to have to start carrying around a nucs worth of bees!   

[efmesch]

I'm no where near Capt44, but I've lost count of the swarms I got this year.  Some I caught---but most just moved into empties--two dead-outs from the winter were repopulated and I've used several others that settled  into spare supers to strengthen my existing hives.  I don't want to increase my holdings (6 hives) so I just keep uniting newly acquired swarms to strengthen what I have. 
The newspaper method always works.
So I guess I should list Newspaper as part of my swarm kit.

[iddee]

EF, you are passing on some serious pocket change there. A swarm setting on 5 frames of drawn comb for 3 weeks, becoming a strong 5 frame nuc, is selling here for $150.00. You don't even supply the box. They bring their own hive and install the five frames into it.

[efmesch]

I just came in from checking a swarm that moved in on me Yesterday.  My wife and I were in Jerusalem for the Sabbath so I didn't discover it till this morning,  It's sitting on about seven built frames (3 PM---while a lot of girls are out at work) and her royal highness is parading around like she's in charge of everything.
Had I Known about them, I would have moved them last night, and placed them to sit on the hive I want to strengthen.  As it stands now, it looks like I'll have to move them, one step at a time, for about a week, until I get them into position where the two can be merged----unless I get impatient and move them in one step and let my other hives nearby "collect" the girls who can't find their way home.   
The more I think about the second option, the better it sounds to me---if I take a week to move them, I'll already have a lot of young brood developing, and that will make for complications with the combining of the hives, reorganizing the frames and eventual extraction of honey.
At present, without any brood to feed, the girls are collecting nectar nicely.  The dripping nectar made it a challenge to spot the queen.
In all my years with bees, I've never sold any bees yet, and at this stage of the "game" I don't plan on starting------that is unless someone comes begging to me----highly unlikely.