As spring approaches, honey bee colonies prepare for their annual swarming event, a natural reproductive process that remains poorly understood. In an article for Bee Culture Magazine, entomologist James E. Tew reviews the complexities of swarming, from colony overcrowding to queen supersedure. Beekeepers face challenges in mitigating this behavior to protect honey production.
Honey bee swarming represents a key reproductive strategy for the species, ensuring colony multiplication despite beekeepers' efforts to prevent it. James E. Tew, emeritus faculty in entomology at The Ohio State University, explains in the February 2026 issue of Bee Culture Magazine that swarming begins with a mature colony emerging from winter with 15,000 to 30,000 bees, led by a queen over one year old. Genetic factors influence the tendency to swarm, as nurse bees initiate drone production—rearing 400 to 600 drones—and prepare queen cups for eggs.
The process escalates as the brood nest becomes congested, distorting worker age distribution and diluting queen pheromones. About half the colony's bees, including all adult stages, some drones, and the old queen, depart. Swarms may move slowly to a temporary cluster while scouts seek new sites or proceed directly to a chosen location at greater speed. At the new home, the group rapidly builds wax and develops during a nectar flow, with the old queen laying eggs intensively to build resources for winter.
Often, the old queen falters, prompting supersedure: nurse bees raise new queens, which compete until one prevails, replacing the old one. Tew notes that swarming shares traits with absconding and migratory behaviors, possibly linked to tropical ancestry. Theories like brood food excess and nest congestion explain part of the stimulus, but genetics and other unknowns play roles.
Beekeepers historically collected swarms to start new hives, though pests like Varroa have altered practices. To forestall swarming, Tew recommends adding brood space early and maintaining young, prolific queens; requeening captured swarms helps curb swarming genetics. Methods like wing clipping, destroying queen cells, or caging the queen rarely halt the process fully. When swarming occurs, workers on a warm day push the queen out mid-morning to mid-afternoon, forming an airborne cluster.