HN-98

HOT NEWS

It's swarming time!

Greg Hunt, Extension Specialist

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We had an early start to spring with the warmest March globally in recorded history. Now it has turned cold. This is perfect weather to make honey bees want to swarm. When they have built up a lot of brood and bees but then are confined to their nests for long periods by cold wet weather in the spring, swarming tends to happen as soon as the weather gets better, which means this week and next! A lot of swarming has already happened. When honey bee colonies swarm they first fill their bellies with honey and take off with the old queen. Some bees stay behind with a new queen. Swarms will usually hang in a tree for one to several days and are typically not apt to sting. If you see a swarm, you can call a beekeeper to come pick it up. A list of volunteers by county for swarm removal or in some cases even removal of established colonies from houses can be found on our website The Purdue Bee Hive or directly from the DNR, which maintains this site: http://www.in.gov/dnr/entomolo/5755.htm.

Swarm of bees

May 18, 2016

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This work is supported in part by Extension Implementation Grant 2021-70006-35390 / IND90001518G-1027053 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

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