With warmer weather finally, here in the mid-Atlantic the nectar flow is on and the bees have begun to expand their hives which means they are starting to swarm.
What is a swarm?
As the colony grows and the brood nest expands, the workers look to put honey on the outside of the brood nest both outside of the laying pattern on each frame and towards the edge of the box. If the workers feel like they are running low on space, both from a nectar space and brood space, they will begin to build swarm cells.
Swarm cells then have an egg laid in it by the queen and are fed only royal jelly to make it a viable queen. These swarm cells are generally located towards the bottom of the frame but could appear anywhere.
The new queen stays behind and the original queen takes half the current colony and looks for a new hive. They land on an object while scouts seek out the suitable hive locations with the queen in the center of the ball of bees. Sometimes, they can sit for hours or only minutes.
Once they have found their new location, the cluster of bees moves to the hole or tree and begins to build new comb or fill the existing comb with honey and nectar.
Swarming is natural and the way that colonies reproduce naturally in the wild. As beekeepers, we try to keep them from swarming so that we can maximize honey yields.
Catching a swarm
Swarms are simple to catch. They are very docile (Do not attempt to capture them at night. It will not go well). Swarms landing on a branch or hanging off an object low to the ground are easy. Place a box underneath the bees and knock the bees into the box.
If knocking the bees into the box doesn't work, then carefully scooping them with your hands may be the required method. It is recommended to wear gloves when handling bees, but not required. Swarms are generally docile and most likely will not sting once they are landed, but that doesn't mean that they will not. I generally choose to use caution in most instances when I can.
Once the bees are in my box I close them and move them to the location I want them to be located, I open up the entrance and let them be for a week or so to fill out 5 frame deeps. If they have to draw out the comb, it's likely to take longer than a week.
Once they have filled the 5 frames, they will need to be transferred to a hive of choice so they don't swarm again.
You now have an additional hive in your apiary, congrats on your free bees or recovering your own swarm.
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