Albert, a new Los Angeles Backwards Beekeeper, recently got his first bees. He writes about this video:
Maurice from Santa Monica caught a swarm and we transferred it to my hive. They were slow to start, but then raced right into the hive. But then apparently the queen must have flown out of the hive to the nearby fence, so the swarm followed her (yikes!). Maurice then sort of shook the swarm off the fence into a bucket, which he then literally just dumped into the top of the hive. That seemed to work (lucky!), and the swarm on the fence dissipated, and the remaining bees on the ground in front of the hive all went into the hive. This all took about 4 hours.
Maurice has become one of the most active bee rescuers in the city. He frequently posts to our Yahoo Group after collecting swarms or hives that people have called in to the Bee Rescue Hotline.
By the way, notice that the swarm-catchers are working sleeveless and gloveless—bees in a swarm are almost always docile and disinclined to sting.
