I got an early wake up call from one of the swarm capture lists. The young man was cautious and sounded a little bit nervous. As I was later to learn he was very allergic to bees and he was nervous about how much it would cost to remove the swarm. I informed him if it was a swarm and not a removal it would be free of charge. Since it was the 3rd week of June I was surprised to get a swarm call so I quickly jumped in the truck and took off towards Aurora, MO.
It turned out that this guy was experienced with bee stings and had learned at young age accidentally that he was truly allergic. With a promise to take him to the emergency room if he got stung I went to work. The interesting thing is we run across many people who say they are allergic since they were stung and it swelled up or made a knot on their skin. All are normal reactions to a sting. Allergic usually means your throat swells and can cut off your ability to breathe.
The swarm was hanging about 5' up on thin branches of a maple tree. Later I found fresh white comb laying on the ground and I think they must of been blown down out of the tree the night before. I brought a 50 gallon plastic drum for a stand, a hive plus an empty deep to guide the bees inside. In the video you will see me break the limbs and drop the whole swarm into the box and then shake the bees off inside. It was a quick capture and then we left for town, returning 60 minutes later to close off the hive and drive with it home. Easy peasy......
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