Swarm catching is a blast!! But it does have its down falls. Last year I was called by a trucking company that had TWO large swarms in a tree. I asked if it was around people and he stated that the truck traffic was done for the day. I get there and sure enough, two big swarms in the tree, but after talking to the security guard she stated that trucks were still scheduled to deliver for the next couple hours..........and the swarms were within 15' of the guard shack with night time coming. I shook the swarms into a double 10 frame deep set-up. It was dark within about 15 minutes of shaking the tree out and bees were flying at the only light available.........the guard shack. After a while I decided im done and left. The guy called back the next day and said I didn't get all of the bees and there was a basket ball sized swarm in the tree......he was actually very arrogant and angry that I didn't get all the bees........oh you mean after I drove 1/2 hour away and picked up what I could of the swarms for FREE? I told him to call someone else to pick up the remainder of the bees, he threatened to spray them, I told him to have fun.
Had a lady call about two weeks ago about tons of bees in her tree, I asked if they were in a ball on the tree, she said no, they are just everywhere. I politely asked her if her beautiful tree was blooming...............she stated yes it was, I told her the bees will be gone in a couple weeks, they are just collecting food from the blooming tree......... :roll: