And the heat makes it even tougher. Six hours - you are very patient. Great trait for a beekeeper...

PSA - moving a hive a short distance will give you problems. The bees GPS to the location of the hive, so when you move it, they will fly back to the couch instead of the box in your backhard. There are some tricks that you can try like covering the entrance with a bunch of brush when you move it so it "registers" to the bees that the hive has moved. You will want to do it after dark, otherwise the foraging bees will be out and will never find the new location, setting your population way back. Seeing your pictures, you have probably watched some videos, and hopefully you knew about this.

Impressive you built your own bee vac. Impressive you were able to get all of the equipment you needed (love the gloves - dishwashing gloves?). Impressive that you transferred the brood. Grateful that you didn't kill the honeybees when you discovered it wasn't an easy or cheap fix. If you vacuumed the bees, there is high probability you got the queen. One warning - the bees can overheat in the container, so if you ever do this again, make sure to leave your wet dry vac engine on as long as there are bees in the container.

You know this won't solve your bees on the pond problem and may increase the number of bees drinking from your swimming pool? That is kind of funny now. You are going to really enjoy being a beekeeper, but it is an expensive hobby...(compared to people thinking you make money off of it).

If you feel like it, I am interested in hearing about your bee vacuum design and if it works, you could probably make a business out of it. Bee vacs are not cheap. $150 minimum.

Another challenge is varroa mites. Probably the most difficult challenge with keeping bees. Happy to answer questions if you have some.

I wish it was easier to post pictures on CB.