On Apr 12, 6:47*pm, "modom (palindrome guy)"
so it was I who
> witnessed bee wrangling first hand.
>
> Don hauled a beehive box up our ladder and perched it on the little
> paint-bucket shelf. *He bent the branch the swarm was on near the open
> top and -- WHACK! *He rapped the branch sharply on the box, and the
> bees plopped inside. *Back on the ground, he put the top on.
>
> Some of the bees still wanted back on the branch (apparently they
> could smell the queen's scent there), so we eventually had to lop the
> branch off to discourage them. *Don took the other swarm with him in a
> catch box: payment for his services.

Modom,

Just for curiosity's sake: What state are you in? I'm in California,
and here we use to call the bee keeper and he was happy to get the new
hive. But I hear things have changed. There's a parasitic mite and
Africanized bees, so the bee keepers don't come and get them any
more. I've been told the only thing to do now is call the
exterminator.

That sure seems like a waste.

Ken