At 03:03 AM 8/12/96 -0400, you wrote:
>I had one of my hives issue a late swarm this afternoon.My wife came in
>to tell me she thought they were swarming.I went out & sure enough they were.
>They laned in a small maple in my yard.The wife asked if I would
>recapture them and I said no, I figured I'd let them go since it was so
>late in the year and, to the best of my knowledge, feral swarms
>hereabouts are extinct.Of course, as we looked at the swarm, she kept
>marveling at its size.It WAS a good sized one, I'd guess about 8 lbs.
>Anyhow, she kept on until I finally figured, why let them fly off &
>starve, so I hived them.It was such a swarm they overfilled a ready hive.
>I ended up puting a hive body full of capped honey on them.I figure that
>may hold them if the winter is'nt TOO bad.I could have let them go, but
>it was against the bee-keeper in me.I also have hope my hives will be
>mite free next year since,as far as I know, they were'nt exposed to mites
>and they arrived last spring mite-free.Time will tell....
>                     ML High
>
>"I take my chances,I don't mind working without a net,
I take my chances,I take my chances every chance I get"
Mary Chapin Carpenter
 
If you take a frame of brood from another hive and give it to the swarm it
will hold them better.
                              Dennis Meeks