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Shane Gebauer, president of Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, demonstrates how to capture a bee swarm with the Hipps Swarm Retriever and install it in a super. Knowing how to catch a swarm is important both for capturing new swarms you want to add to your beekeeping operation and for recapturing bees that outgrow your own hives before they travel too far afield. The most important part of capturing a swarm — other than wearing the proper safety equipment — is ensuring you’ve captured the queen and placed her within the new hive. Otherwise, the rest of the swarm will leave to find her again.
A good indication that you’ve successfully installed the queen is neat rows of eggs in the frames a few days to a week after you place the swarm in their new home. Once the swarm has settled in, you can start adding honey supers to the hive.
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