Thanks Idee. So I decided to go after the swarm. First time removing one from a tree...second swarm removal period...got up on my extension ladder last night at 10 pm and shook them into a 4.5 gal bucket...they filled it to at least 3-3.5 gallons...took them to a freshly built brood with new frames and an empty brood box on top and dumped them in and put the cover on...this morning i went and took 3 frames of brood and pollen and one frame of honey and six new frames and put them into the top brood box...amazingly they seem to like their new home...the new colony location isn't 100 feet from where they were swarmed, and only 200 feet from where the swarm originated from the existing colony...I'm sure theres a long list of what I should've done that I didn't...I'm on my own and figuring it out as I go but loving every minute...I now have 13 colonies with 2 Medium's on 2 Broods, 1 colony with 3 mediums on 2 Broods and the swarm.
Im still amazed how those suckers can sting you through the suit...4th time this year last night...I'm shocked at 3-3.5 gallons of bees from a swarm...but don't any better...normal or average size swarm?
