Guilfordbeekeepers.org

A lady called me this afternoon asking advice of hiveing a difficult swarm. They were on the trunk of a tree that was covered with English Ivy. She had a box with drawn comb from a dead out set up close and had added some honey b healthy. Told her move it close as possible and take a frame of open brood without the bees from her strongest hive. Go up the ladder and hold the frame in the bees until a bunch walk on it and put some in the box one frame at the time until they start fanning good.
Don/t know how it turned out for her.

Was there a better way to get them.

I don't know that it is any better, but the bees will walk on and cover the dark old brood comb, even without brood in it. The more dark frames you have the better. By getting the bees to walk on several frames, it really reduced the cluster and I was able to locate the queen on 1 of them. The brood frame is a good idea for trying to anchor the new swarm and keep it from leaving the hive box.

I do have a 5 gallon bucket bee vacuum (thanks Sam Coble) and a small generator that has proven very handy when a swarm is spread out along a limb, or is in among bush branches that cannot be cut.

That one flew away today.