Hello bee friends!

We answered a swarm call last Saturday evening.  How very strange it
was.

The bees were located in a maple tree.  The maple tree was about 12' in
height (newly planted) with a trunk of about 5 inches in diameter.  The
bees were located at about 6 1/2 feet height.

The bees landed on the tree on Monday.  The homeowners reported a
'larger than a football' cluster during the morning and evening with
smaller numbers during the day.  (There was a huge windstorm the
previous Sunday.  70 mph wind gusts.  Trees downed and roofs blown off.)

Our local association website has 3 pictures of what was left in the
tree.
http://home.fuse.net/backyardbees/swarm.html

When we arrived there were only about 50 or so bees on the tree.  They
appeared to be chewing the wax.  There was consistent coming and going
of the bees.  The combs that had been constructed were haphazard.  Few
of the cells were of uniform size.  The pictures show the differences in
size.  In the same pictures (all the same view, sorry) the comb just at
the front of the picture was actually attached to a leaf, the leaf stem
was fluttering in the wind along with the comb.  None of the comb
appeared to be attached to other pieces of comb.  If you look at the
leaves you can see how there was evidence of comb on the leaves and
spots of wax on the trunk.  These spots went a good foot to a foot and a
half above the cluster.  The bulk of the bees were on the comb attached
to the trunk.  The bees were not loud nor did they appear jittery.

How very sad looking the comb was.  Not the usual perfectly formed cells
to which we have grown accustomed.

We surmised that the bees landed in the tree, started to set up
housekeeping, then found someplace better.  Perhaps their old home was
damaged in the storm?  We'll never know for sure, but the homeowner
promised to alert the neighbors to keep any eye out for bee activity.
(There had been a beekeeper about 1/2 mile from the location, but he had
lost all his bees about 3 years ago and sold all of his equipment and no
longer had bees.  Perhaps a survivor hive or swarm from his stock?)

We took 4 of our 4h beekeepers with us.  It was a great learning
experience (now if we just knew what we had learned!).

Judy in Kentucky, USA