swarm attached to outside of swarm trap

This story begins with several days of bees scouting my 4 swarm traps - each trap contains some brood comb and a swarm lure.  Next, I discovered a huge swarm attached to the outside of my tree hanging 8-frame swarm trap.  During back-to-back cool drizzly weather days, I wait for the swarm to move into the box.

After 2 days, I give up waiting and successfully lower the trap and bees to their new location.  After the bump transfer, I discovered 3 pieces of comb - previously hidden beneath the swarm.    Outdoor comb construction was almost beyond my imagination.

For a few days, I will keep a queen includer beneath the new hive and a 1gal pail feeder with Honey-B-Healthy above the inner cover.

2008 at-a-glance

2008 was filled with many bee experiences--some unexpected. Thoughts like "what have I got myself into" entered my mind more than a few times. Here are my 2008 beekeeping calendar highlights:

• 20-March: Two nucleus hives from P.N. Williams sit next to deep 8-frame hive bodies
• 8-April: Add second deep hive body to each hive, "Buda" and "Pest"
• 2-May: Bees pour out of "Buda" like rushing water. Captured a very small swarm on the shaded ground and create a new third hive, Kent, using a deep hive body.
• 12-May: Bees pour out of "Buda" again. Captured a medium sized swarm while standing on the neighbors roof. I have run-out of wooden ware, so I combine the new swarm with "Kent" which requires a week of using the queen exlcuder as a queen includer.
• week of 9-June & 16-June: volunteer at Oakhurst Community Garden's Beekeeping Camp; Curtis Gentry helps me label the interesting summer bee behaviour as washboarding
• 3-August: "Pest" is lost to small hive beetle (SHB) and robbing
• 17-August: "Kent" is abandoned and covered with SHB slime
• 15-September: "Buda" is abandoned and covered in-part with SHB slime