I don't charge for swarms, but they are thin on the ground here. Only had one call so far this year, and they called back as I was loading up saying the bees left. (At least they called. Yeah!) I didn't charge for my first cutout or trap out because I figured I was in the learning phase. (The trap out was on my way home from work, so I wasn't paying a fortune in gas to monitor it.) I only charge about $50 to $70 for a cutout, people around here are cheap and will not pay more. I walk away from a lot of them when I think the people could easily pay more or the job is going to be a big hairy nightmare. The only reason I do them at all is I am still hungry for bees and some of my best bees came from cutouts. That, and oddly enough, people here won't pay diddly up front, but then will turn around and double your payment with a big tip afterwards. I think they feel guilty when they see how much work is involved. I am getting close to reaching my goal in number of hives, I will quit cutouts and trapouts when that happens. Even though I still find busting my butt all day to remove bees in a cut out fun. Bee madness indeed!
JC