# Is this a swarm?



## BruceC (Jan 19, 2011)

Is this a swarm? 


It wasnât there a couple days ago. Itâs on a mulberry limb about 5â above ground. I figure itâs a swarm but itâs such a uniform pyramid I had to ask. Thereâs no knot on the tree, itâs all bees. Is this time of year they swarm? I have an old walnut tree that used to have a hive, they disappeared. Is there a way to attract them to the tree? Iâm not gonna haul them there. Are they just resting while scouts are out looking for a permanent home? Is the queen in the center? Is that a normal size for a swarm? Looks small to me. Funny, honey bees have been noticeably missing since that walnut tree hive disappeared and the first bee I saw this year was yesterday.


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## thequeensblessing (Mar 30, 2003)

Yes, that's a swarm. Bees swarm in May, generally speaking. It may be, most likely is actually, a secondary swarm, this late into the season. This would be why it is a farily small swarm, although I've seen smaller. Do you know any beekeepers you can call to come get them?


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## wolffeathers (Dec 20, 2010)

Put an ad out, someone will come and get them!


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

Most Beekeeping Associations have lists of members they submit to call direct and they will come get your swarm. Just call the closest Bee Association!


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## mare (Aug 31, 2006)

is that a paper nest to the right of it on the same limb?


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## thequeensblessing (Mar 30, 2003)

If the swarm is even still there in the morning, I imagine they'll be rather mean tempered!


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Yes that is a swarm.

*Is this time of year they swarm?* 
Honey bees swarm at different time of the year, mostly depending on location,. In the south sooner than May maybe, here in the north mostly the first part of June since we normally don'thave drones to mate the vigin queen that takes the old queens place. there is a poem, May worth a load of hay, June a silver spoon, July let them fly.


*Are they just resting while scouts are out looking for a permanent home? * That is abought how it works.

*Is the queen in the center?* 
she may not be in the center but she is surround by a group of bees. I think it is amazing how they lock their legs together to form the cluster. We call it the chain gang since they have locked into sort of a chain.

*Is that a normal size for a swarm? *
One thing I have learned over the years there is no such thing as a normal size for a swarm. It mostly depends on where it came from. A small colony in a tree in a woods will mostly cast small swarms, small than pictured. A large colony from a couple of double deep hives can cast off a really big swarm. a swarm so Big I split it the next day. I had even worndered it it was a swarm at all it was so big. Speculated it was from a huge tree that had fallen but it would take days for th equeen to slim enough to fly from a fallen tree.

If you are lucky they went into your walnut tree.














































They were on both sides of this fence.










I'm on the states bee clubs list as well as the regional clubs list several local clubs list and with the local animal control, fire dept., sherrifs ofice local city Police dept, county extention office and USDA office locally list and a site in Ohio. I collect about 15 swarms a year. 

 Al


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

A swarm I collected Tuesday. I am sure it was the second biggest swarm I've ever collected.











 Al


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## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

mare said:


> is that a paper nest to the right of it on the same limb?


I think its a limb stump that the bark has come off ..


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## OkieDavid (Jan 15, 2007)

Al,
I hate those on multiple limbs like your third pic up from the bottom... Seems like I always guess the wrong limb for the queen and end up having to make several attempts to get her. Love those singles though....


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## BruceC (Jan 19, 2011)

Hey thanks for all the info. Swarm is still there, they donât look that mad. Alleyâs pic of a swarm spread out over multiple branches is what I expected a swarm to look like. Iâm amazed they can hang upside down in a perfect bowl shape like they are. With a bucket of bees hanging down someoneâs got to be holding on tight and hoping a big wind donât come. 

Iâm not going to call anyone to get them. Iâm in the country, Iâd be very happy if they took residence in that big hollow walnut tree, they are only 30 yards away from it. I wonder if they already found the tree and now scoping it out before entering.

The walnut had bees in it 2 years ago but after winter I saw just a few bees for a short time go in and out. Would the previous nest prevent them from moving in? The walnut is in timber where itâs shady. There are other smaller trees around whose branches are waving same height as the opening the bees entered, I always wondered if they swatted the bees and caused them to leave. Now that I think of it, there was a hornetâs nest just 50 yards from the walnut tree that year. I remember cause it was built on a grape vine and the most perfectly symmetrical nest you ever saw. Hornets attack beesâ¦ right?

This farm is bee heaven, they certainly would want to be here but there arenât many hollow trees around. The walnut is at least 100 and near the house so probably got banged up when young and is good and hollow. Is it possible the bees will move just little waysâ¦ like 50 yards away? Or if they decide to leave they will fly for miles?

I ask a lot of questions donât I.

Do raccoons raid bee nest?

No wasp nest in that pic.


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## Michael W. Smith (Jun 2, 2002)

Bruce,

No, the bees are relatively calm when they are in a swarm (they've stuffed themselves with honey before leaving the old hive so they can begin building comb right away once they find a suitable new home.)

The bees might be there for another minute or several more days. It all depends on what the scouts find for a new home.

If the old walnut hive died out, they won't mind a bit to move in, clean it up and start living there. It just all depends on what places the scouts find and they decide which is the best place.

The "swatting" limb wouldn't have interfered with the previous bees nor would the hornets. It sounds like you already have a feral bee colony already living near you since they must have swarmed (unless you have a nearby beekeeper you didn't know about).


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