[redfan]

Got my first swarm of the year last week. I've been chasing this sucker since 4/18!

I was going out to the yard to check everything when I roll up on a swarm about the size of my hand. Couldn't have been more than a pound of bees. What a cute little swarm. I've never seen one that small! It was about 6' off the ground in a little sapling behind the hives. Got a 5 frame nuc box and put it in there, only took about 5 minutes. Easiest one ever!
Then I looked up.

About 25' up in a pine tree was the biggest swarm I've seen with my own eyes, at least 30 pounds. I put a double deep in the tractor bucket, but couldn't get it high enough for them to be interested. They hung out for a couple of days and then were gone. That's the way it goes sometimes.

A couple more days pass, and I get a call that there is a large swarm in the neighbor's tree, not too high up. I went out the next day and there was a tiny swarm in a pine tree about 6' high. They wouldn't let me get within ten feet of them before they started bouncing off my chest. Then I noticed the neighbor has a mature walnut tree that had some bees checking out what looks to be a gash in the trunk about 35' high. I wasn't about to rent a cherry picker and go get them, so I let them be.

The very next day, I'm rolling into the yard and son of a gun if there isn't a swarm in damn near the same place but a little lower to the ground. This might be the same swarm (more than likely), but now it's about half the size. I have a big crate that I'm planning on using for storage, and I moved it right under the swarm. The crate is about 9' tall and when I stood on top of it the swarm was just over my head, but I could reach it. I used a hand pruner to cut off the branch the swarm had attached to. I put the branch over the hive box (I took out five frames to make a little room for the cluster) and they proceeded into both boxes. I put a feeder box on them right away but when I checked the next day they weren't taking it. The flow must be good enough. They've been on top of the crate ever since. I plan on moving them in a few days to another yard I'm setting up half a mile away.