Catching MY swarm

I was just finishing a bee education session for kids at Perivale Wood when Ann, one of Ealing Beekeepers more experienced members, got off her mobile phone to say there was a swarm in a nearby allotment. We quickly made our way there to find that the swarm was a large one in the branches of a plum tree. It was at a good height, and with some minimal snipping we were able to then shake the majority of the bees into a cardboard box which we then wrapped in a sheet and set aside. There were quite a few remaining bees so we improvised on a second container by fashioning a large old plastic bottle with a folding side door and a grass stopper. We brushed what we could of the bees in this and tied around some old and rather holey plastic bags. There were still some bees left on the tree, and in fact the number there grew slowly. I do hope we managed to get the queen into either the box or bottle.
On the way to Maida Vale to put the bees on site, some had slowly made their was out of the bag, but with the windows and sunroof open there were only five or so buzzing around my head when I parked. I left the containers of bees on site and was back again shortly after with my hive. On Ann’s advice, I decided to leave the sheeted box until tomorrow, but I removed several frames and put the old bottle of bees into the brood body next to the other frames after slightly opening the improvised folding door. I put the roof on, put the sheeted box on the roof, put another roof on top of that to keep it dry in the inclement weather, and ended with a rather odd looking temporary tower.