Swarm in front entryway

[Gene Weitzel]

Here are some shots of a swarm I picked up last night in some folks front entryway, it was about 6-7lbs:

[Yuleluder]

Nice catch!

[HAB]

Congrats! So far we've caught three within 4 feet of the ground.

[thesurveyor]

Nice door prize.

[Gene Weitzel]

This is about my 10th swarm pick up of the season, but it is by far the largest, most of them have been about volleyball size.

[Gene Weitzel]

Nice door prize.

Yeah, the owners did not really think so, they were terrified and would not even come out the front door. The guy did have two young daughters that were really excited and fired up about the whole thing. I bet he had a heck of a time getting them into bed last night! LOL

The swarm was not there when they left for work in the morning, but they found it when they returned home. By the time I got there at around 8:30 pm, they had already drawn about a 3" "torpedo" of comb.

[Gene Weitzel]

Congrats! So far we've caught three within 4 feet of the ground.

I picked up one a couple of weeks ago that was on a plastic drum laying on its side on the ground. At first I thought that they were moving into the drum, but on further inspection I discovered that the drum was plugged, so they were just resting. Last weekend I peeked at them and saw the queen, she had a chip in one wing and obviously could not fly very high. Prolific little squirt though, they already had a couple of frames of brood going.

[drobbins]

ha,

I had a different front entry in mind
somebody tried to swarm yesterday and went up in a big oak in the backyard
I ran an errand and came back and they were gone
none of my strong hives "appeared" to have swarmed, no queen cells, lots of bees
today I find this

http://www.drobbins.net/bee's/pics/bugs.jpg

trust me, 10 minutes earlier there were 3 times as many bees on the front of that nuc, there was a thunderstorm about to crash on us when I went to get a camera and a lot went back inside
I think the " swarm" came from the nuc and went back home
there were no queen cells in it but it was WAY overcrowded, slam packed with bees

I split it and gave both halves a little more room, hopefully the queenless half will raise a new queen
anyway, that was my "entryway" issue today

Dave

[Budster]

Wouldn't it be fun to have a hidden cam and catch the reactions when they 1st discovered it...

[Oldbee]

"it was about 6-7 lbs."

Looking at those pictures, it just amazes me how they can cling together like that and how they can distribute that weight. I can't think of anything else in nature right now quite like that; kind of an engineering/architectural feat. I wonder if the swarm is more hollow in the center.

[Gene Weitzel]

I wonder if the swarm is more hollow in the center.

When I misted them with a little water, they did contract a fair bit.

[Gene Weitzel]

Just an update, I decided to check this swarm this weekend since our Chinese Tallow flow finally hit hard and heavy. They had nearly drawn out 10 foundationless deep frames in less than 7 days! A large swarm like this sure is a "comb drawing powerhouse", especially in a strong flow. I forgot to take pics, but will try to remember to take some the next time I inspect them.

[Jeffzhear]

I'm envious, but happy for ya! Glad you got them!