Bees? Yes Please!!

We got a late afternoon call from my brother-in-law. There was a swarm of bees across the street from him about 20 feet up in a tree. Did we want to try and capture? Oh heck yeah!!
We grabbed a brood box that just so happened to have a lot of frames already drawn out and I snared a bottle of lemongrass essential oil. I read somewhere that it would attract bees. I knew we couldn't get up that far in the tree so every little bit would help to get them into the hive. It was about 5:30 when we arrived and the swarm was still hanging out. We got everything set up and I put a couple of drops of the essential oil just inside of the brood box. Before we left we could see some of the bees were already checking it out. The next morning my brother-in-law called to say they were all in the hive and working! Happy dance! We left them for that day and late the next night after dark we went and collected them after they had all gone to bed.

They have been here several days now and are working up a storm. I am a little concerned because when I checked them I don't see any brood being laid yet. We have 2 nucs due to arrive in the upcoming week so I will check with that bee keeper and see what he says. Fingers crossed this will be a free hive!