42 is a pretty big number isn't it! Yes it's all from this year.  Last year I only got 12.
 
I live in Gilroy CA. I'm on the Santa Clara Valley Beekeeper's Association swarm list and the Carrier Bee Supply swarm list.  They are both in San Jose, and I'm the only representative of both lists in my area, which is 20 miles south of San Jose.  Also, my partner and I get all the local 911 referals, and all the referals from the public works department in Gilroy.  It's practically a monopoly I guess, but they can't find anyone else who is interested.  Our swarm season runs from late January to July.  The 911 and city contacts are new this year accounting for much of the increase from last year.  Last year we traveled further for fewer swarms.  Also, there seem to be more swarms this year.  This area was hit hard by varroa for about the first 3 years it was here, but seems to be rebounding.
 
I'm a hobbyist running a 4-H project with 9 kids and half a dozen parents who are new beekeepers.  We share the 4-H yard with a commercial guy who uses the location for mating nucs and as a holding yard.  He had a lot of trouble with swarming in his yard this year and over a third of the swarms were from there. There were several times when I would go to the bee yard and find as many as 3 or 4 clusters of Kevin's bees in the bushes.  We usually combine swarms caught within a 24 hour period to make a stronger colony and let the queens duke it out.  We have combined swarms to make up about 17 colonies.  
 
If you want a blow by blow account, check out a feature on my web site called "The swarm watch". The last few swarms haven't made it onto the web page yet and may not. I'm too busy scrounging up swarm boxes and keeping up with the bee list.   My URL is http://www.hotcity.com/~mwr
 
Michael
 
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From:   bartlett[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Saturday, July 12, 1997 12:05 PM
To:     [log in to unmask]
Subject:        Re: Swarm
 
Mr. Reddell,
Where are you located that you can catch 42 swarms?  Are these from
your apiary or are they calls that you get?  Do you get this many
swarms every year or is this exceptional?  How many hives do you have
total if you caught
42 this year?
Just wondering-----------billy bee
 
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From: Michael Reddell <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Swarm
Date: 12 juil. 1997 13:26
 
Betty's statement is generally true, but there are rare exceptions.
This year I've hived 42 swarms and 2 of them settled into the box
nicely the first
day, only to abscond  hours later the same day, or the next day.  In
one case I
put them back in the same box and then they stayed.  The other one took
off across the countryside and I lost track of it when it crossed a
creek.  In both cases, the queen was in the box.
 
A frame of brood in all stages of development will generally keep a
swarm in a box even if they don't particularly like it.  Problem is, I
don't always have a spare frame of brood handy when hiving a swarm.
 
 
If a swarm does not immediately leave the hive box, it has adopted it
as a
new home.  If the queen has not entered, the entire swarm will leave
again
within 5 minutes.
 
 
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