Hello All, > Next time, I'll slide an excluder under the box for a few days until the queen starts laying in the new box! Works everytime! When I was a boy my beekeeping mentor (90+years old) said to rub the leaves of a peach tree on the box and the bees would stay. I run a small orchard (which includes peach trees) and found the method has a degree of success. Over the last few decades the bees seem to prefer the peach tees for swarming, Then pine trees and last apple trees. I have never had bees swarm into a pear tree, cherry tree, Asian pear or Missouri almond tree ( I brought back from California on a flatbed bee truck as far as I know the first almond trees to Missouri around five years ago). Also the bees have never swarmed into a freestone peach tree but only Redhaven peach trees. Very strange! I get a few swarms every spring in the orchard as I usually keep around a 100 new hives in the field by the orchard in April but this spring over 200. I guess this will be my last year keeping so many new hives on the place . Not because of stings as neither my wife or the neighbors got stung but all complained about the cars being poop bombed. Bee poop not washed will lift paint about the size of a pencil lead off some car paint jobs. I carry with me also special swarm boxes made from a full depth hive body which is screened on the bottom (8 mesh) and a screened (8 mesh) removable lid. I take these with me on which ever truck we are using in the swarm season. At the end of the day if a swarm is caught I place the swarm box in a dark cool place overnight and spray with sugar water. When hived the next day they usually stay put. Sincerely, Bob Harrison -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and other info ---