I had a swarm set up shop right on (and probably in) my worm bin which is in a shady area. It was like a thick blanket of bees which I tested by lopping off a section of them with a stick. The blanket of bees just plopped on the ground but when I checked back in 15 min or so they were back in place covering the worm bin. It was amazing. I took pictures but they didn’t capture the reality of the experience.
I think about two days went by and although they were docile as you said, I was uneducated and concerned they might set up shop for good so I called around and found a beekeeper who told me among other things bees don’t like to be in the sun.
So I dragged the worm bin, and remember, it is quite literally coated with a thick coat of bees, layers of them, out in the sun. Next time I checked back they were gone.
Do you know if their queen is with them when they swarm? So the queen could have been in my swarm? I guarantee you the amount of bees that visited me was well over three pounds, more like 10 at a guess. It was a LOT of bees. I live in a housing tract in suburbia.
Yes, the queen is with the swarm. In fact, that’s how hives multiply. The old queen leaves with about half the hive, leaving a new queen behind. When you dropped a bunch to the ground, the queen was still in the bunch left behind, that’s why the ones on the ground went back to her.