----------------(Note:  Mark Egloff, please e-mail me -- lost your address.)
 
I had a hive (brood ch. from a winter-kill) set up at my in-law's house
about 5 mi. from here.  I do this every year, and have gotten 1-2 swarms
each year at that location.  It's a suburban/residential area.  This year I
was disappointed to see that there never appeared any scout bees at the
hive week after week.  Normally there would be someone sniffing around.
 
It occurred to me that maybe there were lots of leftover dead bees in
there, since there appeared to be lots of ants crawling around the
entrance.  So I opened it up to check; nope - if there had been, then the
ants cleaned them all out.  Otherwise the hive was nice and stinky (old
wax/propolis, etc.) so should have drawn some attention.  The lack of
swarms is really evident all over.
 
Three days ago I replaced the b.c. with another one which I had cleaned up
a bit (scraped down the frames and rabbets of excess propolis and burr
comb). Also, I moved the hive a bit more into  the sun, at the edge of a
deck adjoining the house, and put a scrap of board over the lid, jutting
out to shade the entrance.
 
Well yesterday morning at 8:30 AM i was over there and l actually saw 2-3
bees flying around it!  Went into the house to pick up some letters and
heed the call of nature.  Then on my way out decided to check the hive
again.  A quarter to nine in the morning a beeautiful good-size swarm was
dropping out of the air and covering my hive!  It was great to watch them
home in on the site and descend, then rush in.  I'll be moving them to one
of my yards tomorrow.  I consider this one a real bonus!