Even though life surprises me frequently, I still haven't gotten used to its quirks. Yesterday, two days after the swarm capture and subsequent departure, I was watering a neighbor's tomatoes. I heard a buzzing. Really. I looked up. There they were, again. This time though they were 8' off the ground in a sweet gum with excellent access.

Lise had just left and I couldn't reach her. Dan was still rafting. So, I rounded up David Stucky who was willing to participate in round two of the swarm rodeo. We got our equipment--pretty minimal this time.

David climbed the ladded and knocked the fairly docile swarm off the branch into a box. We carried them to the new hive, carefully opened the box, and knocked as many as possible into the hive. Some ended up in a pile above the entrance and in front of it. But the bees began to trek towards the opening. We thought that was a good sign.

My daughter was graduating from elementary school last night, so I couldn't check them until close to sunset. No bees were in sight, but I thought I could hear them in the hive.

Today the weather is cool with rain off and on. The bees are there. Maybe we succeeded this time. It's good to have our bee network in the neighborhood. We're close enough to help each other. Fun.