Catching Bee Swarm in Loxton's Main Street - Episode 101: "Swarmin' on Main Street" 

Sorry for the delay! We had to upload the episode again. We have found the fault, a crappy USB which has now met it's maker.

I love how weird and non-Newtonian a clump of bees acts - baffles me every time I work with a large swarm of them.

Something that might help with your swarm catching box is to acquire a roll of caulk rod (foam tubing) from your local hardware store and glue/silicone that under the lip of your box. That will give you a rounded over edge to help with sweeping up the side of the box. Maybe it helps..

Hi Bush bee man, just had a idea. If you brushed the swarm into a smaller box then put the screen lid on. When they all congregate around the lid of the smaller box trying to get to he queen, put the smaller box into a bigger box, put a screen lid on the bigger box and take it home.

Hope this doesn't sound rude BBM, but make life easy, dump them into a bee brood box with some frames, a little water / sugar water sprayed on them will stop the air explosion, and they will March in when you have the lid on. Remember they go by smell so your current flywire lid does not allow the ladies to fan off the front entrance and ask everyone to join the disco to come dance with the queen. Think concentrate the pheromones. Do that and smoke the branch where they where holding up gets rid of the queen smell on the branch and they will pick up on her Majesty smell coming out of the box, Saves a lot of work FWIW :) Well done rescuing the Bees!

By gee, Loxton has changed. Haven't been down that way since the 70s, lol.

Good on ya Bush Bee Man, keep the quality content flowing :D

Not sure if you had any, but perhaps always carry an empty box with drawn frames for just such emergencies, so you can put a swarm directly into an environment that the bees will find quite homely, and will save transfering bees twice. In this case a pop down to the shops get a folding table and put the box and frames under the swarm sweep them in, put the top on and go for a coffee. Come back later and sweep in the rest, perhaps leave it till after dusk. I'm sure the local police / council would not mind cordoning off that tree for 1/2 a day. Looked at getting some honey, postage is more than the kilo I was going to get, it is almost cheaper to drive from Adelaide and pick it up myself. And I might just do that if that is possible sometime in the next 2 months.

i love catching a moment of peace and watching a few of your episodes, BBM.! you’re such a fun character to watch and i love the relationship and respect you have for these buzzy little fellows. keep the good stuff coming. ☺️

Why the transfer box? A couple drawn frames in a hive body and most swarms will just march in if you get it close enough.

Rock on BBM!!

How many hives do you manage? Do you buy queens from other beekeepers?

Must have been local front page news for a week!

A couple sprays with sugar water would ha e helped

Is there a noticable change in the weight of the box when you have a swarm trapped in it?

Very cool!

Take a small hive box with you

If you spray with sugar water wont the bees not fly all around?

Could you put a bee escape board in reverse on the top?

You should just sweep them into a hive body with drawn comb, a lot me enticing then a bin.