Catching and Hiving Swarms

A swarm on a post can be encouraged to move up into a box using smoke. If the swarm is in a hedge, cut away branches underneath. Hold your cardboard box close to it (or use a traditional straw basket called a skep). Shake, smoke, and brush the bees in. Alternatively, cut out the small branches on which the bees are clustering and put them in a nuc to be retrieved later. The collection box needs to be about Depth 30-40 x Width 25 × 25 cm. It pays to have a second, larger one. Putting a swarm lure in the box can be very rewarding. Moreover, a frame of uncapped brood placed next to the swarm can help. No two swarms are alike, and so will test your ingenuity.

It is easiest to suck up the bees with a bee vacuum. Some vacuums reach a height of up to 7 metres. I’ve made one using a leaf blower; it is so cumbersome that I could be Ghost Buster. The obvious alternative is to collect them whilst up a long ladder. This is very dangerous. A safer alternative is cutting almost through the branch so it can be angled down (with permission from the owner). Otherwise, attempt a long drop. Of course, you will still have to climb to attach a rope and cut out branches underneath, but it is safer than catching the swarm up a ladder. Knowing where the swarm will land is surprisingly tricky, even with your line/rope dangling down. I lie on the ground and look up. Stand beside the sheet so that the bees do not flutter over you like confetti. One or two cam buckle straps attached to the branch enable a good shake. The technique is to pull down and suddenly stop. But branches prefer to spring up and down. If the bees returned to their perch after the shake, the queen was not with them. Try again. Having gained experience, the second shake will be easier, despite the swarm being less well-circumscribed. This technique works for a moderately high swarm (several meters) and is successful because many clustered are in a reduced energy state: A gradient from 18 to 35 °C in the core to 15 °C in the mantle. Bees need to reach a thoracic temperature of 36–38 °C before they are ready to fly efficiently.

To collect a swarm whilst up a ladder takes one hand to shake the branch and another to hold the box, so you don’t have a hand to hold on to the ladder. Consider this: the shake must be vigorous. A swarm can be heavy, 4 kg. If you use climber’s gear, that’s okay; otherwise, you can decide whether to take risks. A swarm isn’t worth becoming brain-dead or paraplegic. Falls from a height are the most common cause of fatal head injury.

Swarms can be tricky. For example, if a swarm has recently lodged in a chimney. Try lighting a smokey fire. Hopefully, the swarm will fly out and land somewhere more convenient. Otherwise, if retrieval is impossible it is a job for the Borough Council pest control folk. A cut-out is when an established colony is retrieved from an attic, wall or under the floor. If an established colony in a building is killed or removed, it is essential to seal the entrance so the nest does not act as a reservoir of disease.