How long can a swarm hang?

[mike91553]

I misjudged this swarm and lost it. The caller Monday said the bees arrived a week ago last Sunday and after several days he decided to call someone and told me they were 10 ft high and he had seen them every day. I concluded that they were probably building comb there and waited until about dark so I could collect them all. I arrived and found that they were 16 to 18 feet up ( using a tape measure) and decided to come back the next night with a bigger truck and 12 foot step ladder. They all left some time Tuesday afternoon after hanging there for a full 9 days. I could not see any built comb in the tree,