Swarms are tame. No honey or brood to protect. They WANT a new home. Generally, you can slowly put your hand inside the center and not be stung
A swarm of bees came into my son’s shop last week. Two of his mechanics freaked out, but one was calm about it. They called a bee guy and, by the time he got there, the bees had decided that wasn’t a good home and they had all left.
That’w amazing you can put your hand into the center of the swarm.
Till recently i had never heard the term “Gentle Bees”.
Generally. Not true enough to risk this. My neighbor’s oak tree is home to a hive that issues swarms once to twice a year. I’ve twice had to take my dogs to the emergency vet just for their sniffing.
Yeah, you can get away with grabbing a swarm. But, you better be the size of this guy if they decide to take offense — that weight will minimize the anaphalactic (sp?) shock.
What did he grab? Just a handful of bees? The queen is at the center of that swarm, isn’t she?