Swarming in Australia usually starts in September. When a colony swarms about half of the bees abscond which means less bees and less honey production. Set a trap and you can get them back — or collect a free swarm that came out of someone else's hive down the road.
This guide covers both scenarios: setting a swarm trap and letting the bees come to you, OR collecting a swarm that has already landed somewhere nearby. Neither is hard; both go better if you've sorted your gear out before the phone rings.
What you'll need
- A clean 8 or 10-frame full-depth brood box — timber or Apimaye
- 4 full-depth frames with new wax foundation, plus enough to fill the box later
- Beewise Swarm Boss lure
- Entrance reducer and Queen Excluder
- Bee suit, gloves and a hive tool
- ProSweet™ and feeder for once they move in
When Swarming Starts
September is the usual start across most of Australia, running on to around December. Warmer districts go earlier. The southern states and anywhere at altitude run a few weeks behind.
The date that matters isn't when the first swarm flies. It's when the scout bees start house-hunting, and that runs a few days ahead of it.
So, a trap that goes up in November has missed the best of the season. Get yours out in September and you're ready when the scouts are.
Why a Colony Swarms
Swarming is how a colony reproduces. Through spring the population climbs faster than the box can hold it, the Queen's pheromone stops circulating properly through a crowded hive, and the bees start building Queen cells. The old Queen leaves with roughly half the workers.
They don't go far at first. The swarm settles in a cluster — a fence post, a low branch, the side of a shed — while scouts fly off to find somewhere permanent. That cluster might hang there for a couple of hours or a couple of days.
That pause is your window. Once the scouts agree on a site, the whole lot lifts off and you won't see them again.
Safety First
- If there are bystanders about when you're collecting a swarm, ask them to watch from a good distance or through a window.
- Do not attempt to take a swarm which is too high up or would be dangerous to retrieve.
- Falls can result in serious injury.
A swarm that has just settled is usually about as calm as bees get. They've gorged on honey before leaving and they have no brood or stores to defend. A swarm that has been hanging for two days is a different proposition — hungry, and considerably less agreeable. Suit up either way.
Know your own limits too. Don't work off a ladder while holding a box.
If the swarm is up a tree, near a powerline, or somewhere you'd need a spare hand you haven't got, leave it. Your local bee club will usually know someone who does this regularly and has the gear for it.
Setting Up a Swarm Trap
TIP: there's no need to build a bespoke swarm trap. A standard brood box does the job perfectly.
- Start with a clean 8 or 10-frame brood box, used or new, timber or Apimaye. The trap needs to be about 40 litres — Nuc boxes are too small. Scout bees assess the volume of a cavity before they recommend it, and the small ones get passed over.
- Apply 2 single sprays of Beewise Swarm Boss to the underside of the cover, and 2 single sprays on the base next to the entrance. Don't over-do the sprays — more is not better.
- Insert 4 new frames with wax foundation, two on each side. Use new wax foundation rather than drawn comb: old comb sitting in an unattended box is an invitation to wax moth.
- Reduce the entrance to about 10cm. A smaller opening is easier for a new colony to defend against robbers.
- Place the box somewhere conspicuous to the bees, about 2 metres up. Scouts search visually, so a box tucked in behind foliage will most likely be passed over.
- Lift the rear of the box 1cm so water can't pool inside.
- Sniff the trap every 2 weeks. If you can't detect the Swarm Boss by nose, reapply as above. This is the step most people skip, and it's why their trap sits empty all spring.
- As soon as the swarm arrives, carefully insert the rest of the waxed frames needed to fill the box, and immediately move the hive to its permanent location.
Putting a Queen excluder over the entrance for a couple of days will reduce the chance of the bees absconding. They can't take the Queen out through it, and by the time you pull it off they've usually committed to the place.
Collecting a Swarm That Has Already Settled
The other way you get bees is the phone call. Someone has a cluster the size of a football on their lemon tree and would like it gone.
Take a brood box, bottom board, cover, four or five frames, a bee brush, a spray bottle of water and a hive strap.
Leave the smoker in the car. Smoke on a settled cluster puts them in the air, which is the opposite of what you want.
If the cluster is on a branch you can reach and shake:
- Hold the open box directly underneath, as close as you can get it.
- Give the branch one sharp downward shake. Most of the swarm drops in as a mass.
- Put the cover on with a gap, set the box on the ground near where the cluster was, and step back.
- Watch the entrance. Bees standing with their abdomens raised and fanning means the Queen is inside, and the stragglers will walk in on their own.
If they're on a fence, a wall or a trunk you can't shake, brush them into the box in small lots instead. Slower, and you're relying on the same signal: once the Queen is in, the rest follow.
Either way, leave the box until dusk so the flying bees can join. A mist of water settles them for the drive. Don't seal the box tight and don't leave it in the car boot in the sun — a warm swarm in a closed box overheats quickly.
After the Swarm Moves In
After three days it's a good idea to feed a quality syrup such as Beewise ProSweet™ to your new colony. A swarm arrives with nothing but what's in the bees' stomachs, and drawing a box of foundation takes a great deal of sugar. Feeding is what gets them onto comb before the flow moves on.
Give them a week, then look for eggs. Eggs mean a laying Queen and you can leave them to it. Nothing after a fortnight and you may have a Queenless colony, or a virgin still to mate — worth reading the frames properly before you act.
Treat a caught swarm as an unknown quantity. You have no idea what the parent colony was carrying.
Keep it away from your other hives for the first few weeks. Check the brood carefully once it's capped for anything resembling American foulbrood, and run a varroa wash using iso-propyl alcohol before you count it as part of the apiary.
Registration and Biosecurity
Registration is a legal requirement for beekeepers across Australia, and a swarm you caught counts the same as a colony you paid for. If this is your first hive, register it. If you're already registered, your hive numbers have changed and the paperwork should follow.
The obligation doesn't stop at the form. Feral swarms are one of the ways disease moves between apiaries, which is exactly why the isolation period and that first brood inspection matter. Our biosecurity information covers the requirements state by state.
Common Mistakes
- Using a Nuc box as a trap. Around 40 litres is what scouts are after. A 4 or 5-frame Nuc is roughly half that.
- Over-spraying the lure. Two single sprays in each spot. Heavier isn't stronger.
- Baiting with drawn comb. It attracts wax moth.
- Setting the trap and forgetting it. The scent fades. Sniff it fortnightly and top up when you can't smell it.
- Leaving the swarm in the trap. They start drawing comb straight away. Move them within a day or two.
- Smoking a settled cluster. Water mist, not smoke.
Get Set Up
Everything for the trap in one place: Swarm Boss lure, brood box, full-depth frames, Queen excluder and bee feed.