1. What is with all these swarms? I have run out of equipment and the wife’s patience.
   
2. I had a swarm yesterday, and it was really small.Should I try to catch it and if so, then what?
   
3. I received a call that a swarm had settled on some property that was to go to settlement in two days and the caller was in a panic to get the bees removed. Said they were in an old oak barrel that the bottom had rotted off and the Bees were going to and fro from the hole in the side of the barrel. It turned out these critters were Yellow Jackets not Honey Bees. I told them to call an exterminator or destroy the colony themselves, as I don't do Yellow Jackets. Any comments and explain removal if they had been Honey Bees.

First of all, let me say right off I have swarms. Like many of you, I must maintain regular employment to survive; therefore I’m seldom with my bees when I need to be. Were I there, it is possible, I repeat possible, that I could prevent the urge of the hive to do the natural process that results in the increase of the hives. The only thing any of us know is that it is the natural instinct of bees to swarm. Many of the authorities try to theorize this that and the other as to the cause. The bottom line is, it's natural. Can it be prevented in every case? No! It can be delayed in most cases and in a good many cases for an entire season. So, keep it simple. Do your early rotation and even a second rotation. Feed as long as they take it. Add additional boxes before you think they need it and keep adding them longer than you think they are needed. Now, there are little things you can do as one gains experience and hopefully delay the instinct. Remember, beekeeping is supposed to be fun.

Simplest thing is wave good-bye.Realize that the younger queen is still in the hive. The risk is that the young queen may not be fully mated and may not even be out of the cell yet. In the latter case, the chance of a good mating gets more remote each day that passes. In early September, many hives have begun the divestiture of drones, minimizing the chances of a good queen. This type of hive behavior leads to queens that fail in midseason the following year, and we sometimes wonder why. If you know the hive that cast the swarm, mark it and pay close attention to it next year. It will not stay in the hive generally even if you put it back; however, one might put it in another weak hive. I prefer to hive it in a small nuc, then a few days later newspaper it onto the target hive by way of a modified inner cover. I have given the resident queen the hive tool test about half the time, but I see no difference in the survivability of the hive either way--the queens duke it out or the proven queen moves into the vacancy.

Let's cover both. Yellow Jackets are no friend of mine and I believe under the circumstances you gave them the best answer. If time had permitted there are two solutions. There are some commercially available Yellow Jacket traps, but be careful they are not open to the Honey Bees. The better units have entrances that are too small for a Honey Bee so check them carefully. One can utilize Sevin liquid, which is harmful to Honey Bees, but in this case fashion a mop with a long handle and apply the liquid in and around the hole. Do this several times over a few days and the colony will dwindle away. They clean their feet with their mouth thereby consuming the poison. If this happened to be a swarm, which I doubt this late in the season less it be an after-swarm not worth fooling with. One could utilize it to requeen a colony in need of a queen. In either case, open the barrel up and box the swarm, closing the box immediately. Remove what's left of the barrel along with the swarm. Since the Real Estate activity will intensify in the days before closing and this turns out to be an established colony I suggest the whole thing be moved. Fashion a wire bottom to be attached to the barrel in its current position. Utilize two hive straps around the barrel to prevent the whole thing collapsing, as stays in old barrels tend to be very loose and unreliable. Make sure the top is secure in the groves as you tighten the straps. Lift the whole thing, place the wire under the barrel and secure it. Staples and duct tape may both be needed. Before daylight close the hole with screen and as soon as daylight comes, move the whole Kit and Caboodle to it's new home several miles away. Place the barrel on the spot and open the screen over the hole. Give them a couple of days to orient to the area then proceed. Get everything ready for the transfer while the Bees are getting used to their new area. This will be a mess this late in the season especially if there are other bees in the area. If so then when you are ready to precede smoke and uncover every Hive in the Bee Yard to minimize any robbing. Carefully smoke and begin dismantling the barrel to give you access. Five gallon buckets with sealable lids will be needed, as you are about to learn "Robbing the Bees in the old days." With a "Bob Cole Cut Comb Knife" or a boning knife cut away and deposit in the buckets any honey removing as many Bees as possible before you dump the chunks. Close the bucket after each chunk. Messy you say, well no one sent invitations to a picnic. Capped brood encountered must be cut and placed in an open frame secured by string or rubber bands then placed in the new home. Any old foundation not being utilized by the Bees can be kept and later put in the wax melter. Clean the inside of the barrel as best you can as all this mess will be removed and destroyed, preferably by fire. Now that you are thoroughly covered in dripping honey and angry bees and since the weather is warm cover the new home and clean up a bit, but don't take too long. If you brought some capped honey with you then proceed to place the frames in the new home leaving space for one frame on one side of the brood and two spaces on the other side of the brood. Go to the other hives in the yard, locate and remove a couple frames with pollen, which you place beside the brood saving one space for a frame of drawn comb next to the brood. This would never be done in the spring with cool nights thus eliminating the frame of drawn comb next to the brood and there would be a mix of drawn comb as well as frames with foundation. The box from which you removed the pollen one must shift frames to the center of the box filling in the outside with a drawn comb frames. If you did not have some capped honey with you, but brought additional boxes of drawn comb the honey and pollen for the new colony must be borrowed from the other hives in the yard. Flick the bees off and complete the rehab. So, in the box we have brood in the middle, pollen on one side drawn comb on the other side of the brood with the other pollen frame to the outside of the drawn comb leaving honey frames beyond to both sides of the box. If the Queen made it through this ordeal that is great, then the drawn comb frame will give you a chance to check for eggs, otherwise order a Queen to be installed a few days later. It would be nice to give them another box of honey preferably from the honey house. Why? It will take the bees several days to repair and settle plus one must be mindful of winter approaching. Grab several handfuls of grass or straw and loosely cover the entrance establishing a robber block. Button everyone up and get the heck out of there. Give them about a week before you check the surviving queen or three days before installing the new queen, whichever the case.