In the spring and early summer, strong honey bee colonies will occasionally produce swarms.

Swarming is precipitated by crowding and congestion in the original bee hive as the colony rapidly expands its population. When colonies swarm, the old queen and 40-60 percent of the bees leave the parent colony and cluster on a tree limb or other convenient site.

Colonies also may produce smaller secondary swarms which contain fewer bees and a newly emerged virgin queen.

When colonies swarm, the air can be filled with thousands of bees. Honey bee swarms are a fascinating phenomenon and pose little hazard to humans unless the bees are profoundly disturbed.

They have neither young nor food to protect, and their defensive instincts are minimal.

Typically, a swarm will remain clustered where it lands for one to three days. During this time, scout bees will search for suitable nest sites. When a site is found, the swarm will fill the air and move to the new nest site. While a swarm remains, do not operate vibrating equipment near them.

Lawn mowers, weed eaters, chain saws and other power tools should not be used until the swarm has left or been removed.

Please call Vanish Pest Control day or night; we are experienced with live bee removal as well as bee hive removal