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I was called a second time to Risinghurst by Judith who gave me my first swarm to collect. The same feral colony had cast a second swarm.

This new swarm was in the neighbour's hedge. Again it was at a low height and very easy to collect. This time I made no mistakes collecting it and then tipped it into the brood box of the hive.

From getting the call to being back at my desk took 2hrs 15mins. Not bad for a swarm catch.

I do have am empty super on top of this hive too. This time I also have a queen screen. I hope that the bees will build comb where the queen is. If not then I've made another mistake.

The NBU Regional Bee Inspector advises not to leave any comb in the hive when hiving new swarms because of the local AFB outbreak. Two days ago I put the bees into the hive but I had to remove several frames. Today I opened the hive and put clean, comb-free frames back in.

The colony are settling in. They've been building comb, but in the wrong place. The hive is a Commercial body with a super on top. They were such a large swarm (football sized) that I put them in through the super. Unsurprisingly I found them today clinging in a ball to the crown board. They were building comb directly onto the crown board and into the space where the super frames should go.

I put the made up frames into place and very gently put the crown board back down. A piece of comb with fresh honey broke off.

I now have a hive full of frames but also a new problem: tons of space in the brood area but a Queen who'll be building in the super.

There is an outbreak of American Foulbrood (AFB) in central Oxford at the moment.

AFB affects very young brood inside the nest and is very serious. Its bacterial spores are transmitted through infected honey.

The bees fill their stomachs with honey when they swarm, so I've been advised that a new swarm should be forced to use up all of this stored honey to remove the chance of transmission. In practice this means:

• forcing them to build new comb
• removing any existing comb so they cannot store or infect newly foraged honey
• inspecting for signs of infection

I've no idea whether the swarm I've accepted has AFB but I'm not going to take a chance.

I am establishing an 'out' apiary in central Oxford. I already maintain a single hive at home.

This will consist of 2 hives with Commercial brood bodies. They are sited on the roof of a building, equivalent to the 5th floor. I will be populating them with swarms caught in the local area. They have loads of forage in University Parks, down the Cherwell river and in nearby college gardens.

I've read that bees have no problem being site high up, if the placement is not too exposed. It will be cold and windy during the winter so I'll have to consider how to mitigate this as the season draws on.

I set up 2 hives a few weeks ago and registered with swarm officers. I've been waiting, but the weather has been relatively cold (air temp at 10am was greater than 15C only on 7th-10th and 12th May - source Radcliffe Observatory).

At about midday yesterday I was told about a swarm in Risinghurst. I took my swarm catching kit (bee suit; bee brush; cardboard box; gaffer tape) and found it in a very easy position. The swarm was on a hedge next to the pavement at chest level. I put the lip of the box beneath the swarm and gave a vigorous shake. In they went.

I was unsure about whether I'd got the queen so I shook and brushed the stragglers. I then propped the box with it's opening angled down to create a dark space. They coated the inside of the box (approx 50cm square). The flying bees continued to fly so I packed the box and drove to my out apiary.

At the out apiary I put the box with it's opening nearest the hive and hoped that they'd go in. I returned during the afternoon but they were still clinging to the inside of the box. I returned again as the sun was setting and they were still there.

The beekeeping books which I own are silent on to hive a swarm. Perhaps it's obvious? Time to get some advice. I called Paul.

Paul and I talked about walking them in with a sheet. It has downsides (the sheet falls off and they walk underneath; the sheet ruffles and they get trapped; etc). He recommended tipping the box in. It lacks style but does the job. I opened up, removed some frames to make space, then tipped with a sharp bang on the bottom of the box. It was done in a minute. Lid on and let them settle in.