You can make cheap swarm traps out of plywood. This video will show you how! Please note, to maintain the 40 Liter size preferred by bees, an intentional gap is left under the frames. The bees may build burr comb down here which you’ll have to cut out and rubber band in new frames when you move them into their permanent hive.

Here Angela is slowly gathering a swarm by hand off a young fir tree and dropping into a hive box she brought along. Once she successfully gathers the queen into the box, the bees remaining on the tree will willingly flow into the box to be with their queen. Bees are very docile in a swarm and full of honey so they struggle to sting!