Don't "Bee" Afraid of Honeybee Swarms this Summer

By Melissa Steele

Spring break for bees? Why, sure!

Now that the days are getting warmer and nectar flow is at an all time high nation wide, honeybees are swarming. Misconceptions abound about swarming bees. Most think they are in attack position, but they are not. 

That is, unless they think they are under attack, but that's not the same behavior as expansion swarming.

Swarming is a natural process of hive expansion. If you see a cluster of bees like this photo shows, do not panic. They are not aggressive and are in fact rather docile in this stage. Don't kill them.  

They are leaving the hive with their queen (in the center of the cluster) to make a new home. They wait here surrounding the queen until their scout bee's return to tell them where the new digs are.

The hive they are leaving is keeping 50 percent of the bees and they will create a new queen for themselves from existing larvae by creating "queen cups" and feeding those larvae royal jelly.

If they seem to be trying to nest in your home or garage, call a local bee keeper who will likely come and remove them for free and re-home them for honey gathering purposes.

The world needs more honeybees! We've all heard stories about problems with colony collapse disorder.  None of us can survive without honeybees and other pollinators.