Try a hardware store with a good garden section, or a catalog like A.M.
Leonard, or Lee Valley Tools to find pole pruners with telescoping poles.
There is one out there that cuts and holds branches, though I suspect that
it won't work on a thick branch.  The standard pole pruner has a saw on it
that you can remove if it gets in the way.  On a thicker branch, you can
hook the pole pruner over the branch and shake it to make the swarm fall.
(As a newbee, I have not tried this!)  It woudn't be too hard to rig a bag
under the blade.  Florian makes a racheting pole pruner that can cut
through some pretty big branches.

Amy Thomson


>        Telephone lineman have a tool that is in-effect a long telescoping
>pole
>made of fiberglass to keep it light enough to handle.