So I got called to a swarm that had disappeared so kept the feelers out for the landing zone and then got called by the new swarm owner who had them land on his roof. Really tricky removal without a proper sized ladder. Nice excuse, however, to use the bee vac. Reaching into the gutters of a house with a bee vac and not having a long enough ladder is a BAD Idea. Good excuse to buy yet more equipment so I invested in a 6 M telescopic ladder. This now defines my highest height that I am happy to work on and has since been really useful.
On a side note this is one of the reasons you never see a rich bee keeper because we are always buying new equipment or hives!!!









These are now nice and happy, (I say nice but will explain in a minute) in the Green Poly Hive. Turns out that these bees may be happy but they are horrible to work with and fairly aggressive. I am therefore planning on leaving them well alone. Aggressive bees are often prolific with honey production.