Honeybees are swarming this summer in Alberta. Here's why, and what you should know about them

It seems like more honeybees are swarming in Alberta and experts aren’t sure what that spells for the future.

Beekeepers say they have observed an uptick in honeybee swarming around Calgary and rural Alberta, thanks in part to the

heavy rainfall that parts of the province have been receiving

as of June and July.

“It’s the third-rainiest July Calgary has ever experienced,” Ty

Callioux, who manages membership for the Calgary and District Beekeepers Association. “And rain means nectar because of all the flowers that are produced.”

For some beekeepers looking to add more bees to their colonies, it could be a prime opportunity to go out and catch the swarms before they find a more permanent home. For the public with little or no knowledge of honeybees and their habits, it could be a cause for concern to find a swarm of bees nesting on a backyard fence or humming deep in the woodwork of walls.

Callioux said his organization has received an estimated 50 per cent more calls from the public this year than in 2024 about swarms of honeybees. But more honeybees in the air does not necessarily spell good fortune for the coming months or for honey production next year, as it all depends on how the bees fare through the Canadian winter.

“Honeybees in the wild don’t do well in the winter,” he said, and often can only survive if sustained by beekeeper-managed colony who has experience with feeding and sustaining the bees throughout the extreme temperatures.

Here’s what you need to know about the honeybees swarming and what to do if you see a swarm.

What does it mean when bees swarm?

Bees swarm when they’re on the lookout for a new home.

Typically, once a beehive starts to get too crowded and the old queen’s pheromones inhibiting swarming in the worker bees gets too diluted among the population, the worker bees will begin constructing new queen cells. Once a new queen cell is capped, the hive splits, wherein the new queen and half the worker bees stay in the hive, while the old queen and her remaining following leave in search for a new home.

The swarming bees fill up on a few days’ worth of honey and leave the hive. They typically find a temporary home, either on a fence, a tree branch or perhaps a bush where the majority will stay while a few bee scouts will explore the area for potential of a permanent residence. Once secured, the bees leave their temporary spot for the permanent home and create a new hive there.

While an intimidating sight to those who don’t understand them, swarming bees are docile, experts say. They are too full of honey to be aggressive and have no home to be territorial of. A bee swarm isn’t dangerous, especially if they’ve only landed on a spot for a day. But if they remain in that spot for a few days more, that’s when the territorialism sinks in and the insects could feel compelled to defend their home, if need arises.

Why are they swarming now?

In Alberta, honeybees normally swarm in the springtime or early summer.

“Swarms follow the nectar flow in a lot of ways,” Callioux said, which in turn is precipitated by flower production and rainfall. Springtime rain means more flowers which leads more nectar, a bee’s favourite meal.

“The spring flow is usually a little bit smaller and that’s in April, when we see dandelions and a few other fruit trees blossoming,” he said. “In Calgary and in Alberta, our predominant nectar flow happens in the month of July. So we just saw a delay, really.”

And the big thing is, we’ve had so many droughts and now this year, that we have all this rain … which leads to average or above-average nectar availability.”

Why are we seeing more bees swarm this year than in the past?

It’s not just the rainy weather precipitating honeybee movement, according to Ron Miksha, an acclaimed Calgary-based beekeeper.

It could also be because there are more beekeepers in Alberta.

“Our number of beekeepers in Calgary has grown a lot,” he said, which has led to an increase in newer, inexperienced beekeepers sustaining their hives.

“The more experienced a beekeeper is, the better they are at preventing swarming,” he added, as they know how to look out for the signs that a hive is ready to swarm and what to do about them.

“From literature, I have seen that about half of all the colonies owned by new beekeepers in the first year or two will swarm during the year. But among experienced beekeepers with more than two or three years of experience, the number drops down to 20 per cent.”

Honeybees don’t typically survive in the wild in Alberta, as they are not native to the region and cannot sustain themselves through the harsh colder temperatures. So, most, if not all swarms, come from bee colonies managed by beekeepers.

Are more bee swarms a good thing or bad thing?

The first thing to clarify is that more bee swarms does not mean that there are more honeybees in Alberta. Really, it just means that there are more bees moving around, according to Miksha, often after leaving domesticated colonies.

For some beekeepers eager to increase their honey production or add more bees to their hives, it could be a good thing, if they are able to successfully catch a swarm and introduce it to their hives.

Introducing a wild swarm to a managed hive can be a delicate practice, according to Callioux, as beekeepers need to be on the watch for potential diseases that the new bees may bring in, such as varroa mites and viruses.

For the public, it could cause concern to see bees collected in their backyard or surrounding areas, Callioux and Miksha say.

As for whether it could mean more honey generation or more honeybees next year, that remains to be seen, they both say, depending on how many bees are caught and how many actually make it through the winter.

Is it a good time to start beekeeping?

Miksha has been beekeeping ever since his childhood and cautions anyone considering entering the industry to think over a few factors before dipping their toes.

It’s a costly business for one, he said, with first-year costs amounting to $2,000.

“It’s hard to keep colonies going year on year,” he said. “Typically, about half the colonies die over winter for a new beekeeper, which means more costs to replace them. And they will have problems with swarming.”

What are the challenges of catching a swarm?

It can be really easy or difficult depending on where the swarm is placed, according to Miksha.

If the swarm is near ground level, it’s just a matter of placing a collecting box beneath the branch the swarm is on and then giving the branch a “good shake.”

“The bees will tumble off very gently,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt them. They land inside the box and if you want to keep them in, they stay there.”

It gets more complicated if the swarm decides to position itself higher up in a tree and then the beekeeper has to climb up and attempt to cut down the branch. Or, if it lands on the side of a house or a building and attempt to enter the structure. “You’re trying to brush them off because you obviously can’t shake the house or the building.”

What should I do if I see a swarm in my backyard?

The first thing to do: Leave it alone, Miksha advised.

“If the swarm has been there several days, then the bees start to become somewhat defensive,” he said. “If they landed in the last day or two, then they’re not going to bother the person, although they might be in a very inconvenient place.”

The next step: Call the city at 311.

The city in turn might call the Calgary and District Beekeepers Association, which has volunteers who will come by and collect the swarm.

Sometimes the public may call the city about a swarm, that turns out to be a bumblebee hive or a wasp nest.

Wasps, Callioux said, don’t have the fuzzy backs that bees are known for and typically nest higher above the ground, while bumblebee hives can be found under concrete sidewalks or under steps.