sometimes you can't stop them

[pistolpete]

I happened to witness my bees swarm today (completely by accident I was at my outyard to pick blueberries).   The swarm issued from a Nuc I made up two weeks ago.  The Nuc was made from a hive that I split 4 ways because they were making swarming preparations.  I guess even with the 4 way split they really wanted to swarm.

The swarm settled on a blueberry bush near the hive, so I quickly grabbed a super off one of the hives and slapped on a couple of pieces of plywood for temporary top and bottom board.  Then I started scooping the bees in there with my hand.  A couple of minutes into it I see the queen, so I scooped her up and tossed her in the box.  She flew right back out and into the swarm.   A little later I see her again on the lid and again, she takes to the air.  I cupped her in my hands mid flight and held her above the frames until she wandered into the hive.  The rest of the bees followed soon after.  It was a pretty neat experience.

[Perry]

I caught one as well yesterday. My bucket on a pole snapped off as I was lowering them down and I got showered in bees. Still caught it though.
Interesting about the nucs swarming, I am seeing a lot of it this year (5 times now) with the bees leaving and no replacements even started as I had just made up the nucs a few days earlier.

[brooksbeefarm]

A few years back i seen a lot of action around a hive and walked over to see what was going on? All of a sudden a rush of bees boiled out of the hive swirling like a tornado and i was in the middle of it I never got stung and just stood there looking up, it's a weird feeling and a experience i will never forget My bees will swarm (sometimes) but stay close because the know i love them and want them around, not like some people who capture them and sell them to people who live in far away places. Jack

[Jen]

Oh Jack Sprat!... whatever (rolling eyes)    But I have to admit, when I see a swarm ensuing in my backyard I like to stand right in the middle of it. So Magical

  To add to the post. Yesterday, I had a hunch that one of my nucs, a two stack, was getting stuffed with bees. I open it up and did an inspection. Turns out there were 4 queen cups, two with freshly laid eggs. I found the pink marked queen set her aside and did a split, destroyed the queen cups, preempting a swarm. Then put queen back into her original nuc. Lifted the lids on the two nucs today, so far so good.

[Lburou]

To catch a queen by cupping your hands is pretty awesome.  Would be a High risk, low percentage shot for me.   

[apisbees]

bat them out of the air with your hand then pick them up off the ground and dust them off and put them back into a hive or cage. Have done it a couple of times when she has decided to fly.

[efmesch]

Gotta hand it to you Pistol, your determination paid off. I have never been successfull in recovering a queen that flew off.  Catching her in mid air---that's rerally something. 

[LazyBkpr]

   I had a nuc swarm about three days ago.. made it up so they would NOT swarm... apparently they had already made up their minds..   Fortunately, they flew 20 yards into my bee shed and took up residence in a hive I had set up a few days before in prep to move another nuc into..   UN fortunately, I was in Michigan with the wife.. so now they think its their home.. will have to screen it up after dark and move it to an outyard.. not so easy to do when its this warm, they have been bearding all night the last few nights.