Swarm chasing!
Monday 17th May was a very muggy kinda day. I noticed the bees were a bit lively, but thought they were just enjoying the day.
Oh dear!. They were busier than usual. They were getting ready to swarm. Picture above is where they decided to settle themselves.
All geared up in my bee suit, I armed myself with a cardboard box, and headed nervously over to the swarm. I havent had bees swarm before, so this was my 1st attempt at trying to get them back.
I put a couple of nails into the tree( SORRY ) and hung the box above the bees with a piece of wire I had attached to the box. All I had to do now was wait for the bees to move up into the box.
May 18th. I finally got them into the box. Took a bit longer than I expected, but at least I had them back before they had the chance to fly off over the mountains, never to be seen again.
With the bees in their box, I covered it with a piece of old net curtain, so they could breathe. They will stay like this for the next 3 days, in a cool dark place. After 3 days I will re-home them in a new hive.