Steve wrote The person who's house I removed the bees from reports that they had been there for years. I did not have the knowledge at that time to check the feral drone comb for mites, and the bees have been treated with strips since then. Steve Steve,you might want to consider a second apiary for your new swarms so you can quarantine them. I'm about 3 hours north of you, and the last two swarms I was hired to remove both had foul brood. Remember in a large percentage of the cases with feral hives, previous hives have died out, and the new swarms take up residence and get re-infected. Tim Vaughan [log in to unmask]