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An option would have been to shake all the bees from the top brood chamber into the lower one (so the queen is now in there), queen excluder over, second brood chamber over it, then nurse bees will migrate back up to the top box. Next day you can move the top box away as a new hive and introduce...

When they settle can you describe what you see once they've quietened down. Just to confirm it is a swarm you are describing. I'd get pictures as evidence at every possible opportunity.

In the apiary today? Mainly making mistakes! I had a colony I inspected on 30th April and found a single queen cell, unfortunately it was bridging between 2 boxes and badly damaged. I'd intended inspectig again before now (mistake 1). I found around 10 open QCs and about 3 or for sealed one...

Agreed, I generally prefer to work gloveless as I am more dexterous and read the bees better, but would be happy with non-stinging bees! That said & accepting I will get stung sometimes, I would prefer relatively regular sting exposure following an opinion from a endocrinologist some years ago...

How many stings does your suit & gloves take? Do you wash the suit?

https://www.msdmanuals.com/en-gb/home/injuries-and-poisoning/bites-and-stings/bee,-wasp,-hornet,-and-ant-stings

You're not going to develop anaphylaxis from the 501st if you haven't before then. The overall venom load could be very bad news for someone without high antibody titres!

500 - ouch! I imagine for someone without well developed immunity that would have been very different! 😁

For bees flying about foraging yes it will work, once they are you to height they will just continue straight to their destination.

I suspect because he barely noticed them by now. It's strange how stings in different places react differently - stings on my hands are usually a few seconds of stinging and hardly any reaction, wrists a bit of swelling but again transient pain, head not much swelling but a bit more tender, face...

They will, but will be higher up so bees on flight lines from the hives will interact less with people & swarms may go the other way or pitch in the garden they started in.

Can you describe the swarms just to confirm what is happening?

Quicker than a hedge would be mesh extending upwards, 1" mesh should do, they don't normally fly through that, though of course you could go smaller. Take it up to about 10 feet.

Less of a problem if it's sorted though. You may have to declare the bee nuisance anyway if you are selling. I'm really sorry you are having this problem, the vast majority of most beekeepers are more responsible.

Nothing wrong with setting up bait hives, though swarms will almost always hang up somewhere first before moving in so it may not be that helpful.

I would video and photograph the next few swarms, include enough context to confirm the location. Once you have recorded evidence approach the council again and ask them to apply for an antisocial behaviour order. The only other measures I can think of would probably not be legal!

There was a paper that said 200+ stings a year is almost complete protection from systemic reactions! I just had swollen painless forearms for a couple of days. These days I often can't tell which finger got stung 5 minutes later.

My worst was a defensive hive which I dequeened then went back into a week later - about 35 stings per hand (no gloves), they were stinging faster than I could ever remove them so I didn't bother. I removed all the EQCs and closed up asap as neighbours had come into their garden! Thankfully it...

The sound and smell of a humming hive in the evening having taken in loads of nectar during the day!

If I took a 5 minute break after every sting some examinations could take a long time! 😁