Ron Bogansky says:

>A fall from a ladder may be worth a trip to the hospital.

Been there, done that.  I don't do it any more.  A swarm is not worth a fall from a ladder.

>If the swarm is one of mine; I go.  If it is in an area near where I have colonies; I go. If the caller is
>an acquaintance; I go.  If the swarm is causing a problem, perceived or real, (i.e., landing in the
>stands during a baseball game); again I will go.  Lastly if something good for the industry's image,
>i.e., positive media coverage, can be gained; I will also go.  All these are without charge.

>When I get a call, four things come into play.  How high? How far?  How long? and What kind of
>tree are they in?  If its higher than 6 ft (2m), further than 10 miles (16 km), or in a pine tree or
>hedge; I tell the caller there will be a fee.   I don't charge very much, usually enough to cover my
>time and travel.  If they balk, I offer the names of one or two other beekeepers, and politely say
>good by.

I really liked Ron's list of circumstances on how he decides whether to go or not or whether to
charge or not.

Here is my experience of the past hour:  I got a call from a lady who said she has a swarm of bees
in her back yard.  I asked if they were in a tree or a shrub, and how big the swarm was.  She said
they were in an upside down 5 gallon bucket that has a crack in it and had a potted plant set on it.
She moved the plant and was moving the bucket and the bees came out and tried to sting her.  I
asked her if the crack in the bucket was big enough for the bees to go in and out, and if it was one
of those white 5 gallon plastic buckets.  She said, no, it was black, and maybe 8 gallons and the
bees were going in and out of the crack as well as the holes.  I then said, "So it's one of those
black plastic nursery pots that was set upside down with a potted plant on it and the bees built their
home inside the pot?"  She said yes.  I asked her how many bees there were and how long they
had been there.  She said "a lot, and they have probably been there a long time because there is a
big nest."  I told her I would come and take a look at it and see what I could do.

So I went, and what I found was a black plastic pot on its side, with a fair number of bees, but not
that much new comb, so they had only been there a few days.  As I sucked up the bees with my
bee vac and examined the comb, I could see it was new white comb (about 3 or 4 small combs)
about 4-5 inches long and a couple of inches wide.  Had some pollen in it, almost no nectar, and
just about every open cell had an egg in it.  As I continued to suck up the bees, I saw the queen
and made sure I got her too.

In the meantime, while I talked to the lady, I found out from her that she had called everyone she
could think of, and had even had an animal control officer come over and take a look.  All of them
told her they couldn't help her.  She finally was referred to the entomology department at the
University and they gave her my name.  She even told me that she had called as far away as Dallas
(a 4 hour drive from here) to see if she could get somebody to come and help her.  She asked me if
I sold any of my honey and how could she get some.  I told her, I do, and as a matter of fact, just
happened to have a quart and 2 pints in my car if she was interested (I don't really twist people's
arms).  She was delighted and said she wanted it all.  That was $10 for the quart and $5 for each of
 the pints, so she wrote me a check for $20 and was as happy as she could be.  I gave her my
business card when she asked me how she could get some more when that ran out.  She said she
had been looking for somewhere she could get local honey, but didn't know where to find it.  She
then asked me if I had pollen to sell.  The answer was,  yes, I do when I have someone who wants
to buy it.  I only collect it when I get a request from a customer.  She said she would call me
(February and October).

There you are, a new happy loyal customer, a check in my pocket, and a "swarm" of bees to install
in an empty hive when I get home from work (I'm a database administrator).  They seemed to be
pretty nice bees too and didn't give me any trouble when I vacuumed them up.  It took all of about
an hour's time and was fun.  All in all a positive experience.  "Swarm catching for fun and profit."
"Beekeeping for some balance in my life."  My academic training is entomology, but like my friend in
 the Extension Service said, "Working for Extension Entomology sure did ruin a good hobby."

Layne Westover, former Extension Entomologist
from College Station, Texas--Home of the Fightin' Texas Aggies

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::