The photo is NOT a swarm, but rather bees at the entrance of their hive. Why did we use this photo? Because we've been called to "remove a swarm" that has ended up having as few bees are shown in this picture! If we remove a few bees like this, they'll all die and end up homeless. Best to leave them alone and let them fly back home.
Swarms are common in Western Pennsylvania in April-June, and again in August-September, when the weather and light patterns shift. The bees who swarm are looking for a new home, and leave with the queen. Typically half the colony goes with the queen, and the remaining bees stay behind to raise a new queen. A swarm with a queen is very docile and not a danger to anyone, unless you are stupid and decide to poke or otherwise harass the swarm. They are simply resting at that location and will leave within a few days as they search for a new home. So don't panic if there is a swarm in a tree in your yard; the bees will move on their own.
Swarms consist of tens of thousands of bees - perhaps 30,000 bees will leave with the queen - and you'll see them as a large clump of bees clinging to one another and can be as large in volume as a 5 gallon bucket. They tend to clump atop a high tree branch, roof structure or other high location. It is difficult if not impossible to remove such a swarm without a bucket truck or climbing spikes, and considering a typical swarm weighs about 25 pounds, with the box another 5 pounds, it's unrealistic to ask a beekeeper to retrieve a box from a tall tree under those circumstances. The only time a beekeeper can remove a swarm is if it is near ground level, such as on a deck, or on a low tree branch. We prefer the branch - we'll cut it and have the bees and branch drop into my box! Why take the branch? The queen secretes pheromones and those linger on the branch. If we leave the branch, another swarm will be attracted to it!.
Anyone who sees "ground bees" are looking at yellow jackets! We don't like them either! Honeybees live above the ground, often in hollow trees. If you happen to cut a tree and discover a hive, that hive is pretty much doomed. For a beekeeper to save that hive, the hive has to be cut into sections and the queen found. If the queen is not found, and brood sufficiently young are not present, the hive is doomed. It is a lot of work to try to save these hives and often the queen cannot be found. We feel terrible when we hear about a tree cut and they discover a hive in it; not many of these can be saved, and trying to save a hive like this is a minimum 3 -4 hour job involving a lot of sawing, stinging, and combing through the hive. If it's May, that hive may survive. If it's September, they're pretty much doomed again. Unlikely there is enough time for the hive to recover its honey and to raise enough winter bees.
If you've cut down a tree and you find honeybees, or you have inadvertently destroyed a hive, Penn State has people who will come get the bees for free. The bees are killed, but used for venom desensitization and are thus critical for saving lives of people who are dangerously allergic to bee stings. They also collect all sorts of stinging hornets along with yellow jackets. This is a great way to deal with bees, etc. rather than spraying them with chemicals and killing them. Any sprayed bees cannot be used for venom desensitization serums. These dead bees have saved lives - including in our own household. One of our beekeepers was saved by venom therapy in 2020.
Disclaimers: Blog posts are opinions, not advice. One thing all beekeepers will agree on, is that if you ask 10 beekeepers what to do, you'll get 13 different answers. Beekeeping is alchemy, nature, and a bit of magic.
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