Jon

I got a call on Friday evening to say that there was a small swarm 20 foot up a tree at the end of a branch at our apidea mating site.
I devised a cunning plan which involved fishing line and a frame of drawn comb.
I was going to tie the line to a weight, throw it over the branch then pull up a comb to attract the bees which would then be lowered down safely.
It was raining on Saturday morning so I didn't get round until about 11am but luckily the apidea contents were still hanging from the branch.
I started getting the line ready but the bugger took off and started to circle around the field in front of the apiary.

The apiary is this one with all the apideas on stands and the swarm was in the tree providing the shade.



Drastic measures called for so I ran into the field and stood like a complete prat with a comb in the air. Don't know if I was on a ley line or not but I hope noone was watching.
Within seconds bees were alighting on it and a few started to fan. Two minutes later I saw the queen on the comb and I got her into a roller cage.
They are now safely back in the apidea behind an excluder
This was a virgin queen so I will be interested to see if this was a mating flight gone wrong or just absconding. The queen was the right age to take a mating flight, about 2 weeks from emergence.
Should be eggs in the Apidea by Monday if it was.
For some reason they settle like this sometimes during the mating swarm and don't return to the apidea.