Bee Update - Oh No! They've Swarmed!

What is a swarm of bees?

To most, a swarm of honeybees is a little nerve-wrecking; but it's actually a good thing! A swarm of honeybees is a natural event where a colony (hive) splits into two. The original colony will become too small, and the bees will begin to run out of space/food storage, when this happens the colony will make several queen cells to replace the original queen before preparing to split. Once the new queen cells hatch, the new queen will release a pheromone that mesmerizes the drones (Male bees) and worker bees (females), and half of the Colony will remain in the existing hive with the new queen while the previous queen will take the other half and prepare to fly out in hopes of finding a new home (hive).

When you see a swarm of bees hanging on your tree, mailbox, or flying through the air in a big cluster and swirling – know that this is a swarm, and don’t be alarmed! This is a very unique time in the bee's lives where they are least likely to sting and are the most fascinating to watch. Once the bees have swarmed, they will find a central spot to land and ‘hangout’ for a bit while the designated few will scout the area for a new home – during this process the remaining bees will stay put until the scout bee(s) come back and deliver the news that they located a new home and it's time to move on, this could take anywhere from a few hours to a few days.

Swarming often occurs in the spring but can happen at any time from spring through fall.

So, the good news is that if you see a swarm of bees, just know it's okay and not a reason to panic! Please do not shake the tree, attempt to spray them with a hose, or worse spray them with any ant/wasp spray. If there in a bad spot or a bother, there are two things to do –

1) Locate a local beekeeper or contact your local beekeeping chapter; This information can easily be found with a Google search, and they will come out and safely remove the hive.

2) Do nothing but observe, while you wait for the beekeeper to arrive.

For someone wanting to get into beekeeping and looking for bees, a swarm is one of the ways you can start a colony; just make sure to have all of your equipment prepared to go before attempting to collect and transport a swarm.