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Swarms and Swarming

This is still in development

Overview

Bees leave the hive for a number of reasons, but the primary two are swarming and absconding. These are terms which mean different things, but the effect can be the same:

  • Absconding - This is an event where the whole colony leaves. If the place where they are living becomes unacceptable to the bees, they will find a new home. Some examples include:
    • the tree in which the (feral) bees live falls down,
    • the hive's infestation with pests becomes too high, and
    • a bear has destroyed the hive.
This entry does not cover absconding.
  • Swarming - This is an event where part of the colony leaves to start a new colony, and part stays behind. It is a natural form of a colony split.

A Feral Colony is not a swarm, but some of the same capturing techniques can be used. Some instructions are below.

Why Bees Swarm

Swarms are a way for the bees to grow their population. It also spreads the bees out across a greater space, reducing the risk that a single event would wipe out the bees.

How Swarming Happens

Usually, swarms happen in two steps. First, some portion of the bees (40-60%) decide to leave the hive and depart for a temporary location. This forms the cluster of bees often seen by people as the bees are attached to places which are easily seen. This is the time in the swarm when beekeepers love to go catch the bees.

Some beekeepers will set out swarm traps near the apiary so that bees will go to this location rather than some place hard to find. This can allow the beekeeper to keep the bees. Such a trap can be made from an old hive box with some old comb inside. It should be mounted about 10 feet above the ground.

The second step is when the bees have identified their home and proceed to go there. Dr. Seeley did a lot of studies about this and his book, Honeybee Democracy, covers this well.

There are some exceptions where the bees move directly from their old home to the new one, but that is not the norm.

Capturing a Swarm

Capturing a Feral Colony

Additional pictures of this

Usage Notes

How it Works

Notes on Making One

More Information

Published Articles

Books and Papers

  • Honeybee Democracy, by Dr. Thomas Seeley. This is a great book which discusses how the bees decide to locate after swarming.
  • Honey Bee Swarm Trap Details (pdf), by Ferreri, Mike. Instructions for building 3 swarm traps from a 4' x 8' sheet of ½" CDX Exterior Plywood.

Web Sites

Presentations

Other

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Disclaimer: eMail comments to me at BeekeepingBoK @ Gmail.com. The process of beekeeping can cause injury or be a health hazard unless proper precautions are taken, including the wearing of appropriate protective equipment.