The bees had settled on the side of the building as described but they were actually entering a dryer vent! I was hoping they weren't setting up a home in there, which was likely as they had only been there a few hours. The small crowd that had gathered was quite impressed at my bravery by walking right up to the swarm in my T-shirt and shorts. I inspected the situation, set up my ladder, and started vacuuming the bees.Starting at the bottom of the swarm I moved back and forth and after only about ten minutes I had collected the entire swarm in the bee canister in the vacuum. The two police officers that were there thanked me for coming out and taking care of the bees and I thanked them for calling me.
I drove the bees back to my house where I had some empty equipment waiting for them. I noticed that in my haste to please the crowd and the police I had the vacuum set a little stronger than I should have. The bee canister had more than a few dead bees, most of them done in by a separation of abdomen from thorax! I hoped the queen was collected and survived but I didn't bother looking for her. A swarm of this size this late in the year doesn't have much of a chance of survival. I'll give them a fair shot but I'm not expecting much.UPDATE: I got a second call from the police that the bees had returned. I explained that some of the bees would linger for a bit but eventually disperse. I investigated and decided to leave the few bees that were there alone. They did disperse although given how long they stayed I'm not sure they found their way back home.
