Spastica said:

Holy C**p! They send you bees in the mail? A box containing 12,000 bees?

That’s insane! And so, so funny! I can’t even imagine the postal workers… "Whatever you do, don’t drop it…" "Wha? Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t!"

I can’t stop laughing. That image is so funny.

The cool thing is that a swarm of bees, whether in a box, or hanging from your porch railing or from a tree branch, is actually not as dangerous as messing with a hive of bees. When you see one, you know they are on the move, looking for a new home. They are usually full of honey (or sugar water in the case of the box), stored up for the journey (and for building new honeycomb in their next home), and that keeps them pretty calm. Same reason you use smoke to work in a hive; something about it, possibly the instinct to evacuate the hive in the case of a fire, sets them to gorging themselves on honey, which keeps them busy, then calm.

Ever see one of those crazy people who make a "beard" of bees, or cover their head with them? Those bees are in a swarm. They’re just hanging out in a cluster, waiting for one of a few scout bees to come back and tell them she’s found the spot for a new hive.

If you do see a swarm hanging out around your house, and you’re worried about them building, say, in the walls of your house (or even if it’s just freaking you out), you can call a local beekeeper to come and get them. They are usually glad to come, because they can take the bees back to their own beeyard, to set them up in a new hive.

You’d also be doing the bees a favor; due to various mites and viruses, honeybees are in danger of being wiped out in the wild.