There are many 'wild' European bees out and about. Keepers do not capture all the swarms from their hives. I see swarms go by the house every year; actually, I hear them before I see them.

On one occasion, I put an extracted super out to let the bees clean it up before being put into storage. I put a bottom board and top on it to keep the summer rains and mice out, and watched the bees come and go. I kept an eye on it, in passing, for a week or so, and the bees were still active when there hadn't been that much to clean up. I took a look inside and a swarm had taken up residence.

I had this super sitting on a lawn chair on the north side of the garage, but the 'big boys & girls' say the best way to entice a swarm is to place a hive body under the eaves of a building at the corner.

Terran