Does anyone have first hand experience using a shotgun to dislodge a swarm
from high in a tree? A couple of old timers suggested it to me several years
ago, but I have never tried it. But yesterday I found two large swarms about
30 ft up in trees, hanging on limbs that looked fairly strong, about 2-3
inches in diameter. And the trunks of the trees are covered with poison ivy
vines, which gives me two good reasons not to go climbing after them (the
first, of course, being the possibility of broken bones or worse).

Is the objective to hit the branch and break it off behind the swarm? Or is
the idea to shoot directly into the swarm, thereby causing them to lose their
collective grips and fall, obviously sacrificing a few bees, hopefully not
the queen? I assume in the first instance I would want concentrated large
shot, like #4, full choke; if the idea is to directly hit the swarm, probably
smaller more dispersed bird shot and light load would be better, right?

Any advice will be appreciated, but please no debate about guns -- I am a
responsible owner and outdoorsman.

Matt Higdon
mid Missouri, USA