Sieve of Eratosthenes

# the sieve of Eratosthenes
# import math for sqrt()
from math import sqrt
def theSieve(maxNum):
    # create a list w/o 1
    searchList = list(range(2, maxNum + 1))
    # create a list to store prime numbers
    primeList = []
    # begin the sieve process
    while True:
        # if the first number of searchList is bigger than sqrt(maxNum),
        # transfer all the rest numbers from searchList into primeList
        if searchList[0] >= sqrt(maxNum):
            for n in range(len(searchList)):
                primeList.append(searchList.pop(0))
        # check if searchList is empty
        if len(searchList) == 0:
            return primeList
        # transfer the first number from searchList into primeList
        primeList.append(searchList.pop(0))
        # delete the multiples of the transfered number
        for n in searchList:
            if n % primeList[-1] == 0:
                searchList.remove(n)

print(theSieve(61))