this swarm came from a colony living in a cottonwood tree in the homeowner's/former beek's backyard. i'm not sure how long it's been there, but it sounds like a few years. i put a box right under it, perched the box on the ladder, and snipped the branch at her encouragement. seriously could not have been easier, unless they would have swarmed directly into a hive body. i asked her if she was sure she didn't want it (with her being a former beek and all), but she said not with small kids living directly on either side of her. :scratch:
the only thing i had with me at the time was a 5-frame nuc, so i dropped them into that. it's been cold here all week, so i haven't had a chance to move them into a 10-frame deep. hopefully i can do that this weekend, because i'm sure they're getting crowded in that nuc.