I got my first bee swarm call of the year a few weeks ago. With spring underway, this is the time for honey bee colonies to divide and multiply by a process we know as swarming.
A swarm of honey bees can range in size from a couple thousand up to 30 thousand. They hang together here in a cluster- their little legs clinging to one another in a mass that may be as large as a volleyball.
It is an incredible process that takes place every spring and is often repeated well into the summer. And while it is an awesome sight, it may be a little scary if you don’t know what is happening.
A swarm of bees consists of roughly half the bees from their home colony with their queen. The swarm is looking for a new home. They leave behind the other half of the colony, who then raise a new queen in their old home.
Before half the hive swarms, they are careful to make sure that there is plenty of eggs and larvae (brood). This will keep the hive functioning properly until another queen is raised.
The departing queen leaves several queen cells in the hopes that one will emerge, live through the maiden flight, successfully mate in mid-air with drones (male bees), and return home safely to start her egg-laying.
For some time before the bees leave the hive, they run the original queen around so she will lose weight and thus be able to fly. When a queen is in “egg-laying” mode, she is too large to fly.
On the appointed day (that only the bees know) half of the hive of worker bees, along with the queen, fly out from the hive to a nearby site to scout a new home. Often, they stop on a branch, but they can choose a number of places such as mailboxes, the side of a building, under a birdbath, on the side of a car, and others.
Usually within couple hundred yards of the original hive, the bees alight on an object and form a cluster. This will look like a seething, fuzzy glob of insects. Sometimes bees fly from the cluster to collect water and food, but most workers leaving the cluster are scouts that search out potential new home sites for the swarm. When the scouts return from a good site, they dance on the cluster to communicate the location of their find.
In a bee swarm, they are at their most docile state generally. Since they have no place to call home, they have no hive to protect.
A departing swarm looks like a small grey cloud that seems to move quickly through the air. People not familiar with honey bees are generally frightened by such a sight, but unless a bee becomes tangled in someone’s hair, it isn’t likely to sting. The queen is certainly in the group, but not leading it.
Twice I’ve seen a swarm in flight. Once while mowing a pasture, I saw a “small dark cloud” coming across the field. I shut off the tractor quickly and watched them fly off into the neighboring woods.
The second time, I was driving on the overpass at Southwood Drive and the south loop in Lufkin. At the highest point on the bridge, my truck collided with a mass of insects in the air. Though I didn’t immediately realize what happened, the hundreds of bees on the windshield were evidence that I drove through a swarm of honey bees.
Beekeepers have a love/hate relationship with swarming. They love to catch a swarm as they can add another hive to their apiary. They hate when one of their own hives swarms as they have lost half the workforce in that particular hive for immediate season.
If you find a swarm outside your home, remember that they don’t plan on staying there. They have scouts out looking for their new home. Their time together as a swarm will range from a few hours to a couple of days. While they did gorge themselves with honey prior to leaving, they are eager to find a new home.
Additionally, remember that many beekeepers are quite happy to collect a swarm of bees. Look for a local group of beekeepers. They will often have several members who are interested in “chasing swarms”. Here around Lufkin, look on Facebook for the Pineywoods Beekeepers Association.
