Today I spent 6+ exhausting hours out in the rain trying to catch a swarm a neighbor found in his backyard. I'll be posting all the details on my blog, but here is my current predicament.
The cardboard box I used was soaked when I finished, and I couldn't tape it shut, so I wrapped a 50-gallon garden bag around it and took it home.
I set up an 8-frame medium hive body (I only use 8-frame mediums, btw--no shallows or deeps) with a spare bottom board, and added some candy inside the hive for feeding. I also sprayed all 8 foundations with sugar syrup. I used a box knife to cut a 6" gaping hole in the bag/box, and quickly laid the box, exposed hole facing downward, over the frames. I weighed down the box with bricks, and being that the box is much bigger than the hive body, the box is currently acting like a top cover.
Here's my question: how do I know the queen will make her way into the medium hive box? With her colony heading down to feed inside the box, will she follow them down? What if I inadvertently killed her--how will I tell? This is my first swarm catch, and as exciting as it was, I now realize I have no idea what to do next.
Thanks in advance for your help! :)