unexpected swarm call

[scoobee]

a few months ago, I went to our county Agg. ctr and offered my services to do any bee programs the wanted. I left my name and phone number with them.
              Yesterday, I'm out in the yard messing around when my wife brings me my cell phone. As I answer it, it turns out to be steve,  our agrigricuture representative. He asked me if I handled swarms and I immediately said  "yes".( I didn't, but, wanted to, and never have before.) He advised me that a woman called him saying that she had a swarm in a dumpster at the school where she works. I got the particulars and my son and I were gone.
             Be honest with you, I didn't have any of the right equipment that I would need, but was ready to throw caution in the wind. We grabbed our suits, smoker, a small honey super and my top feeder.
            We arrive to the scene and, Teresa, the lady that called me wanted to watch how we did this. (I hadn't a clue how to, but, if you talk like you know what your talking about, people think you do.)
          We find the swarm, about the size of a football hanging down from the closed lid to a dumpster, and a large mass on an empty box directly beneath. My 13 yr old son dons his bee suit and steps into the dumpster and first hands me the box below with the bees on it. I had to make something up so I put the top feeder down and the small super om top with frames, them I banged the bees into it. Then my son took the box and held it under the hanging swarm as I raised and slammed the lid down dropping most of the bees into the box which I transferred. Then we hung around till the flying bees settled on the dumpster lid and repeated the action several more times. Before we started we tried too find the queen but couldn't. The bees that I put in our box stayed and some flew to it and went in, but the flying bees kept going up to the original location in the dumpster. I figure either the queen was still there or the queens pheromone was. Either way, my first swarm, 90 % of the bees and know stings. Not a bad first time. And I'm now the official 1st call for swarms with the county. Bob

[iddee]

Always carry a bottle of Fischers bee-quick. A few sprays on the dumpster lid and all bees would be in the hive.

[L Daxon]

Good job. No better way to learn than to just do it.
I did my first swarm captures this spring and had only watched videos on the internet.  The second time I went out with just a cardboard box but i sprayed the inside of it with Lemon Pledge, which I had heard mimicked the queen pheromone.  Boy did that ever work. Bees were just flying into the box before I even got all my equipment set up.  After I brought the swarm home and put it in a regular hive, I left the cardboard box on my back patio and bees were sill flying around it a week later.
There's nothing like collecting your first swarm to make you feel like a "real" beekeeper.

[Kathyp]

congrats.  it's a great feeling, isn't it?  :-D

ditto the bee quick!  if you can't find it, you can use honey robber, but it really stinks and stinks up all your gear. 

[scoobee]

Thanks guys for the imput, I'll try both the bee quick and the lemon pledge. Teresa from the school called me back and said that there was about a baseball size group of bees still on the dumpster lid. I took the woman that I gave the swarm to down with me. When we got there, it really wasn't worth the time or gas to go but we colleced maybe 2 dozen bees and left maybe a dozen. Thanx again and yes it does feel good. We cazn't wait for the next call. Gooing to the bee festival at Dadants this weekend and going to load up, watch out Dadants and check book. :) :-D :shock:

[Boom Buzz]

Well done Scoobee!  I caught my first swarm this year also, in May.  A friend called to say she had a swarm on her picnic table.  I was there pronto with my gear ready to wing it and learn.  But no pledge or bee-quick.  The football size swarm was on the edge/under the table.  I set up my deep with a couple of frames taken out right under the swarm and swept them in.  The whole thing took at most five minutes from unload gear to stand back and watch see what happens after sweeping them in.  I left the hive there and returned that night to button up the hive and bring them home.  The  colony was slow to get going but it is now booming and I just added a super to give them more room to expand into.  It was so easy, especially after having done a couple of cutouts last year.  I'll take swarms any day!  :-D
And now I know to take some bee-quick. 

[L Daxon]

By the way, if you really want to get swarm calls, call a few termite or bug exterminators and tell them you will go get swarms. A lot of exterminators don't really want to mess with bee swarms. I gave two companies my name this spring and I had 7 calls in about 6 weeks.

[scoobee]

Thanxs Idaxon, I will do just that. And my wife is getting lemon pledge. I just hope between swarm calls that she doesn't start making me dust the furniture.  :-D  Bob

[L Daxon]

I heardabout the Lemon Pledge at the Oklahoma State Spring Beekeepers mtg.  They said some woman polished her dining room table and left the window open and the next thing she knew, there were bees all over her table!