After 16 days, the new queens begin to emerge. The queens developing in the swarm cells in the old hive are attended by half of the workers that did not leave with the swarm. Once a suitable home is found, the entire cluster will take flight and move to the new location where it will begin building comb, developing new brood, and gathering pollen and nectar. The cluster will remain until scout bees locate a new hive or cavity to occupy. Often the cluster will leave, travel a mile or more, and reform on another branch far away from the original hive. The cluster will remain there for several hours while scout bees explore the area for a new home. The queen will find a nearby tree, land, and emit pheromones that signal the workers to cluster around her. When the queen is ready, she leaves the hive and is followed by about half of the workers in a massive cloud of flying bees. Meanwhile, the queen quits laying eggs and reduces her weight to be able to fly. Foraging slows down, and the workers begin erratic movements within the hive.
Once the swarm cells are constructed, and the queen lays eggs in them, then the colony changes its behavior. The workers begin building swarm cells for new queens. When a honey bee colony outgrows its home, becomes too congested, or too populated for the queen’s pheromones to control the entire workforce, then the workers signal that it is time to swarm.
Swarming is the process by which honey bee colonies reproduce to form new colonies. Although having a swarm of bees in the yard might be unnerving, it is fascinating and one of Nature’s most dazzling displays of coordinated behavior. It also can be very alarming because, after all, these are stinging insects that will defend themselves if disturbed. “If a swarm of honey bees is seen, call a beekeeper, not an exterminator!” Few things will grab attention as quickly as the buzzing of thousands of bees clustered on a tree branch and flying all around the yard.
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