The Swarm Stops Here!

For honey bees, Apis mellifera, swarming is the natural reproductive process in which a mature colony typically divides into two approximately equal units. It can be likened to binary fission in some other animals, a form of asexual reproduction. When a colony has outgrown its parental cavity (hollow tree, rock outcrop or managed Langstroth hive) the colony produces a reproductive unit known as a swarm. One unit remains in the origional hive and the other departs with the queen, thousands of worker bees and occasionally a few males, called drones. The departing bees alight and cluster to from a temporary bivouac nearby, usually in a tree. The swarm issues experienced scout workers who, for one to three days, comb the nearby countryside seeking available places for a new home. These bees explore the surrounding countryside in all directions seeking out every nook and cranny as a potential new nest site. Once the best new home, typically a cavity of 20-40 liters (5-10 gallons) in a tree, walls of a house or rock cavity is found, the swarm cluster becomes airborne as an amazing swirling mass of thousands of bees takes flight. The old queen flies off with about half of her daughters and sons led by the scout bees to the new homesite. The parental colony over the next several weeks rears a replacement queen from an egg or young larva. The exit of a swarm from a colony of honey bees in the spring is one of the most awe-inspiring events in all biology.

Here we see a natural swarm of about 10,000 bees which has just landed in a mesquite tree at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center complex in Tucson, Arizona.

(Traps IMAGE)

In this photograph we see the developer of the USDA-ARS swarm trap, Dr. Justin Schmidt, holding two of his now-famous traps. The traps are made from recycled newspaper that is strengthened with solubilized asphalt. They are sturdy, light weight, biodegradable, highly effective in attracting swarms and last 3 to 4 years in the field. The larger trap is designed for use by beekeepers to capture European honey bee swarms for adding to apiaries. The smaller trap is rejected by most European honey bee swarms, but is readily inhabited by Africanized bee swarms. Both traps contain a slow-release Nasonov pheromone attractant that smells lemony and attracts swarms from a distance. These traps have bee widely used by the USDA-ARS and state Agricultural Experiment Station researchers to survey and detect the presence of Africanized bees in Mexico and the US. Many thousands of beekeepers have also used the traps to capture swarms and increase the size of their apiaries. Recently, industry has been using the traps to capture and eliminate unwanted Africanized bees from recreational and residential areas, where they will otherwise move into building walls and become a possible health and safety risk.

By Dr. S.L. Buchmann & Dr. J.O. Schmidt

Questions or Comments abour GEARS: gears_web@tucson.ars.ag.gov

GEARS is maintained by USDA-ARS. This server reports the results of research only. See official endorsements disclaimer.