I had a similar experience just a few days ago. The swarm, a very large one landed on a small manitoba maple in the back yard and extended themselves linearly along the trunk from ground level to about 1.5 m in height. I moved a bottom board and two supers along side and started loading them on the entrance. They dutifully marched in and seemed to be doing well. Like you I didn't want to lose just a valuable resource. Cheers, Doug Henry, Lockport, Manitoba On Mon, 12 Aug 1996, Michael Lance High Sr. wrote: > I had one of my hives issue a late swarm this afternoon.My wife came in > to tell me she thought they were swarming.I went out & sure enough they were. > They laned in a small maple in my yard.The wife asked if I would > recapture them and I said no, I figured I'd let them go since it was so > late in the year and, to the best of my knowledge, feral swarms > hereabouts are extinct.Of course, as we looked at the swarm, she kept > marveling at its size.It WAS a good sized one, I'd guess about 8 lbs. > Anyhow, she kept on until I finally figured, why let them fly off & > starve, so I hived them.It was such a swarm they overfilled a ready hive. > I ended up puting a hive body full of capped honey on them.I figure that > may hold them if the winter is'nt TOO bad.I could have let them go, but > it was against the bee-keeper in me.I also have hope my hives will be > mite free next year since,as far as I know, they were'nt exposed to mites > and they arrived last spring mite-free.Time will tell.... > ML High > > "I take my chances,I don't mind working without a net, I take my chances,I take my chances every chance I get" Mary Chapin Carpenter >