Bee Swarms: The Fascinating Phenomenon of Bee Colonies on the Move

Last Updated on August 13, 2024 by Anthony

Bees are social insects, and their colony population fluctuates throughout the year. Starting with a few thousand bees in early spring, the colony builds up to a peak of 50,000 to 60,000 adults by mid-summer before decreasing again. This entire population originates from eggs laid by a single queen.

Worker bees generally live for about 50 days, while the queen can live for over two years. However, her ability to lay eggs diminishes with age. Swarming is a natural process that bees use to form new colonies and to transition from an older queen to a new one.

As the queen ages and her pheromone production declines, the workers recognize the need for a new queen to maintain egg production. This often leads to the old queen leaving the hive with a portion of the workers to establish a new colony elsewhere. Swarming typically occurs in late spring to early summer, just before the hive reaches its peak population.

How to Tell When a Swarm is About to Happen

In preparation for swarming, worker bees start to produce new queen cells on the combs within the brood box. These cells are easy to spot, as they are larger than worker and drone cells, hang downwards, and are often located at the edges or bottom of the frames.

When the queen is younger, she releases a pheromone that spreads among the worker bees, preventing them from building queen cells. As she ages, her production of this pheromone diminishes, leading the workers to start creating queen cells. When the queen leaves with part of the original colony during swarming, she typically has enough pheromone to maintain some control in the new colony, though the focus is more on establishing the new nest.

Meanwhile, back in the original hive, a new queen emerges and, after mating, begins laying eggs to rebuild the colony’s population.

Here’s a detailed table outlining key indicators and behaviors that suggest a bee swarm is imminent, as well as corresponding observations and actions you can take as a beekeeper:

Indicator	Description	What to Look For	Beekeeper Action
Queen Cell Development	Worker bees build new queen cells in preparation for swarming.	Large, peanut-shaped queen cells along the edges or bottom of frames.	Regular hive inspections, particularly in spring and early summer. Consider removing some queen cells.
Overcrowding in Hive	The hive becomes crowded, leading to insufficient space for bees to work and store honey.	Excess bees clustering on the outside of the hive, high activity at the entrance.	Add additional supers or consider splitting the hive to reduce congestion.
Reduced Queen Pheromone Levels	The aging queen produces less pheromone, reducing her control over the hive and triggering swarming.	Bees becoming more agitated or less organized, queen cells being built.	Monitor queen performance; consider replacing an older queen to maintain strong pheromone levels.
Increased Drone Production	The colony raises more drones (male bees) in preparation for mating a new queen.	More drone cells on combs, increased number of drones in the hive.	Monitor for queen cells, ensure the colony has sufficient space, and consider hive splitting.
Reduced Egg Laying by the Queen	The queen reduces her egg-laying rate, signaling that swarming is imminent.	Fewer eggs and larvae in the brood area, noticeable gaps in brood pattern.	Perform a thorough hive inspection; ensure sufficient space and resources.
Bees Bearding Outside the Hive	Bees clustering on the outside of the hive entrance, often in hot weather or overcrowded hives.	Large clusters of bees hanging outside the hive, especially in warm weather.	Improve hive ventilation, add supers, or consider a hive split to alleviate overcrowding.
Increased Hive Activity	Noticeable increase in activity and noise within the hive, often before a swarm.	Bees rushing in and out of the hive, increased buzzing, and agitated behavior.	Conduct a quick inspection, check for queen cells, and ensure the hive has enough space.
Scout Bees Leaving the Hive	Scout bees search for a new nesting site before swarming.	Increased number of bees flying around the hive entrance or returning with pollen.	Observe flight paths; if scouts are present, prepare to manage a potential swarm or create an artificial swarm.
Abnormal Queen Behavior	The queen may slim down to prepare for flight with the swarm.	Queen seen moving more actively, appearing thinner or more mobile than usual.	Regular inspections; consider caging the queen or splitting the hive to prevent swarming.
Temperature Rise Inside the Hive	The internal temperature of the hive may rise as a precursor to swarming.	Warmer-than-usual hive walls, bees fanning at the entrance to cool the hive.	Improve hive ventilation, monitor for queen cells, and ensure bees have space to work.
Previous Swarming History	Colonies that have swarmed before are more likely to swarm again.	Knowledge of past swarming events in the colony.	Consider preemptive measures like splitting the hive or regular queen replacement to prevent swarming.

Summary of Beekeeper Actions

• Regular Inspections: Frequent hive checks, especially during swarming season (late spring to early summer), are crucial.
• Space Management: Ensure your hive has sufficient space by adding supers or splitting the hive.
• Queen Management: Replace aging queens or monitor for signs of reduced pheromone production.
• Swarm Prevention: Consider performing an artificial swarm by moving the queen or splitting the hive before natural swarming occurs.

This table provides a detailed guide to recognizing the signs of an imminent swarm and suggests proactive measures to manage or prevent swarming effectively.

What to Do as a Beekeeper

One of the most cost-effective ways to start beekeeping is by acquiring a swarm of bees and placing them in your hive. Nevertheless, once you have a colony under your care, managing swarming becomes a crucial aspect of beekeeping.

Upon inspecting your hive and noticing queen cells in production, you’ll need to stay vigilant. Although these cells indicate that the bees may be preparing to swarm, it’s not a certainty. Sometimes, bees will destroy the queen cells on their own, especially if conditions in the hive improve.

For beekeepers, a swarm offers a valuable opportunity to expand their number of hives and increase honey production. If your bees do swarm, you can capture them and place them in a new hive. Alternatively, you can perform an artificial swarm by moving the queen to a new hive before the bees naturally swarm.

For beginners, managing swarming can be a stressful experience. Identifying the queen and successfully transferring her requires skill. Additionally, if the bees do swarm, they often settle in high, hard-to-reach places, like the tallest branches of a tree, making them difficult to capture. Swarms are noisy, impressive, and can be intimidating to people unfamiliar with bees.

Pick a Course of Action

As with many aspects of beekeeping, there are a number of different methods to deploy. The best advice is to pick one and stick with it. Make a decision about what you are going to do before you open up and inspect the hive.

For an artificial swarm, you will need to have a new brood box available. When inspecting the old brood box and finding queen cells, you should move it and its floor to a new position about two feet away. Then a new brood box and floor are put in the original location.

At this point, you examine the old brood box and find the queen. You move her and the comb on which you found her to the center of the new brood box. If there are queen cells on this comb, they should be destroyed. Then fill the new brood box with 10 new combs, preferably drawn combs, place the queen excluder on top and the old supers on top.

Make sure that the entrance to the old brood box is facing the same way as when it was in the original hive. Examine it and remove all capped queen cells, leaving only unsealed queen cells that are ready for capping. Put a crown board and roof on top and leave for a week.

At this point move the old brood box to the other side of the original hive. In this way, you will increase the number of worker bees and ensure that the new queen has not hatched before the final location of her colony is picked.

Catching a Swarm

If your bees swarm before you have time to do an artificial swarm, then you have the option of capturing them. If you are certain that the bees you have captured are your own and came from a specific hive, you can handle them in the same way as the artificial swarm process described above.

To capture a swarm, you should always wear a veil and gloves. Usually, the bees will be co-operative. If they have left a colony that had plenty of stores, they will be full of honey. But if they are starving, they could potentially be nasty.

There are three positions to capture swarms, and the technique is to encourage them to move upwards into the dark and stay there with the queen. The dark can be provided by a straw skep, a specific piece of equipment, or you can use a sturdy cardboard box.

If the bees are on a low branch, you can shake them from it into the container. You then place the skep on a sheet on the ground and use your smoker to encourage stragglers to join them. If the bees are on a high branch or a wall, you put the skep over the top of them and use a puff of smoke to drive them in. If they are under something solid, then you need to brush them down onto a sheet and then into the skep.

Once you have them, put them in a new hive and give them some foundation to encourage them to stay.

If you have a hive that has swarmed and you do not catch the bees, then you need to open the brood box as soon as possible and find a good queen cell and mark this comb. Then shake all the other combs and destroy any other queen cells.

If no hatched cells are found, wait 20 days and examine the brood box again. You should find that a young queen will have started laying eggs. Most colonies are unlikely to remain queenless.

What is Swarming in Bees – In Conclusion

In conclusion, swarming is a natural process in the life cycle of a bee colony, where the queen bee and a large number of worker bees leave the hive to establish a new one. While swarming can be a stressful event for beekeepers, it is a sign of a healthy and thriving colony. Beekeepers can manage swarming by monitoring the colony’s population and ensuring that the bees have enough space and resources to prevent overcrowding. With proper management, beekeepers can even benefit from swarming by using it as an opportunity to increase their apiary’s size and productivity. By understanding the swarming process and taking appropriate steps to manage it, beekeepers can help ensure the continued health and well-being of their bee colonies.