Pueblo County Beekeepers Association
Honeybee Swarms
by L. Scott Stevenson
What is a swarm?
Swarms consist of a group of worker bees that have engorged themselves on honey and the queen. They engorge themselves in order to sustain the swarm until they find a place to live. A swarm of bees is the natural instinctive phenomena of the honeybee, this is a natural way of propagation. When something is not right in the beehive, the worker bees will decide that it’s time to leave. About half of the bees will leave the hive with the queen and swarm to a bush, tree limb, a house wall, a post or wherever they want. The swarm will stay there from a few minutes to a day until the scout bees find an acceptable place for a new hive.
Some of the reasons that the hive decides to swarm are:
What do you do if you see a swarm of bee?
Bees with Hives in Structures