# 20 questions you ask before responding



## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

Caught a few swarms and have had a few wild goose chases. Need some help knowing what to ask before I even get in the truck. 
For instance: "Is this a fresh call or have you been trying to contact someone for four hours?". "Fresh or stale?". 
Just responded like a fireman to a call that's 15 minutes away. Get there and the man who called in the swarm to a friend of a friend of a friend that finally called me. It hurts to hear the man say, "They were there for four hours and just left 5 minutes ago". Then he adds insult to injury by wanting to play twenty questions about bees. 

So please....help me compose that list of questions.
#1 is, "are you sure it's honeybees?". lol 

Enjoy catching swarms but it does hurt when you get there and it's a bee tree, wasps, or they're gone. 
The other day I was asked to travel 80 miles to catch a swarm in a bucket. Uhhhh...no way am I driving that far to get disappointed.


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

Got a cell phone? Take a pic and send to me
How high off the ground are they.
Then ask yourself - would my time be better off splitting in the beeyard - instead of pissing it off chasing a swarm?
My first 3 questions Aunt Betty
SAK


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## b1kfd (Mar 6, 2014)

Sakhoney, you hit the nail on the head "Got a cell phone? Take a pic and send to me" 
Do they have to be picked up right this second?
Is there a problem with leaving the container I catch them in until after dark?
If I don't come get them, are you planning to poison them?
Is this a swarm or, or a cut-out?


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## DaisyNJ (Aug 3, 2015)

Agree with others. Everybody and their grandma got smart phones. no pic, no go, unless its one of your association members or other beeks.


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## gone2seed (Sep 18, 2011)

How high is it-so I will know what ladder to bring.
How big is the swarm compared to a ping pong ball?a beach ball? etc.
Have they been sprayed with anything? Some will lie about this and you can smell the spray when you get out of the truck. If sprayed I get back in the truck and leave.


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## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

In this day and age of instant communication it surprises me how inept that many people are at "communicating". 
Generally the caller wants to chat as if it's no big hurry. I'm pretty chatty myself but a swarm call is like "calling for help" and demands some sort of urgency which is lacking in most. "You mean they won't build a hive in a tree branch?". "I figured they would stay for years".


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## cheryl1 (Mar 7, 2015)

I ask how big and ask for pics. Some of the pics I've had sent could be any size because they got right up next to the swarm. Softball, basketball, or omg that branch is going to break size?


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## Adam Foster Collins (Nov 4, 2009)

I have asked questions like, 

"Do you see any bright yellow on them?" and "How many would you guess go in in out over the course of a minute or so?"

You have to remember that the questions are also somewhat regional. In the North, if someone sees 10 or 20 insects come and go in a minute and it's April, it's likely not anything but honeybees.

Adam


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## rwlaw (May 4, 2009)

"I have bees in the wall of my house"
I would ask a few questions, one of which, do you have the Internet and if you do, Google wasp vs bee pictures. If your sure they're honey bees after that, call me back and I'll stop out and look.
Nine out of ten calls were never returned.


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

My two questions are "how long have they been there" and "did you contact anyone else". 
Second I tell them to send two pics. 
1. Of the bees.
2. An overall view so I can determine height.


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## jadebees (May 9, 2013)

Let me add another important question, " Did you try to spray them already?". Spring it on them , or get them to spit it out, somehow. Because, they will lie, to get you to do it. Because you don't want a poisoned-comb, sick colony, with contaminated honey, that can't even be given to your bees, after they abscond the poisoned mess.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

jadebees said:


> Let me add another important question, " Did you try to spray them already?". Spring it on them , or get them to spit it out, somehow. Because, they will lie, to get you to do it. Because you don't want a poisoned-comb, sick colony, with contaminated honey, that can't even be given to your bees, after they abscond the poisoned mess.


i always let them know that in general swarm shakes are free, but if I find out they have been sprayed when I get there they will incur a charge to cover my gas and time.


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## tanksbees (Jun 16, 2014)

"Tell me what you see" is the first question.


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