In a quiet neighborhood near Springfield we got a call on a swarm in the backyard of a small house. The bees had been on the tree limb overnight and were about 8' in the air. This swarm was very compact and a bit cold since it was mid-April. This was a textbook capture. We put our box on the ground without a lid and added a separate medium super without frames inside. Jeff pushed a bucket up underneath and hit the limb hard enough for most of the mass to fall into the clean bucket.
He then quickly turned and carefully poured the bees into the top of the hive. We must of got the queen because the rest followed quickly afterwards into the hive. Jeff only hit the limb twice more to capture remaining bees. Within minutes the bees were all in the box and we were off to find more bees to save. If you look at the final photos you can see the wax comb the honey bees were building on the limb of this tree. This colony is doing great in its new home.
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