Thanks, Hank. It’s great fun and usually fairly easy. Good luck with the many you’ll catch.

That would take some doing, Rodney. Even if I wasn’t going away for most of November, I’m not sure I’d catch up to you.

@@AussieMikesBees It would bee quite a feat if you did!!! Thanks Mike!

Well done. The dodgy weather here is challenging for a swarm to make it too. I’ve caught swarms that have been in one place for over a week of wind and rain with a pile of dead bees on the ground. I think if they use up the honey in their crop to keep warm , there’s nothing left to make it to a cavity and build comb. The secondary swarms have even lower survival rates. At least the primary has a laying queen to start sooner. I have #7&8 done, hopefully upload video tonight. Then no more while I’m travelling.

@@AussieMikesBees Well, swarm #5 was easy pickings. And, it presented a wonderful opportunity to involve the 80 yr lady resident. I keep my multiple suits in the car boot. #6 was evasive and I think I’ve lost it. It was brought down in a single mass from a dangling eucalyptus branch and placed gently in the box, but they would have none of that box. So I’ve posted a video of that now because it’s a new experience. They recollected on a nearby tall shrub, but was unable to collect them before they decided to move off again. I have so many questions. What happens to a swarm (I suspect a cast swarm), if the queen is killed in temporary lodgings? Do they fly back home? Are they forever lost as Gypsies bees?

Well done on #5, Mun. Welcome to the club on #6. Sometimes they have their own idea and nothing you do will change it. It could be their scouts had already decided on a suitable cavity and relayed that to their sisters. You probably nabbed them moments before they were about to head off. The way they only stayed on the tall shrub a short time suggests to me they had their plan already. Cast swarms have mediocre survival rates at best. They have to wait for the queen to mate and return (already risky) and then settle down before laying. The answer to your question is much like all beekeeping questions. It depends. If they find themselves queenless the day they swarmed, they could return to the mother hive. They still have the right smell and still have honey in their crop. Every day that passes, dramatically reduces their chance of being accepted back in. They smell different and no longer have honey to offer. If they land up alone, they'll perish. They have a chance of survival if you catch them and put a frame with young larvae in the box. Or better still a queen or queen cell. Or combine them with a queen right hive.