# How far will a swarm travel?



## rkereid (Dec 20, 2009)

There are honey bees in this country almost anywhere there are trees. You can catch swarms in your bait hives most places. If you have any old comb put it in there too. Now is the time in the mid Atlantic region to down south.

Good Luck


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## Adrian Quiney WI (Sep 14, 2007)

Jyawn, the answer to your post is maybe.... I've read here on Beesource that the more traps you have out the better. The only way to find out is to get that trap out and watch it. Good luck.


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## BoilerJim (Apr 15, 2011)

In researching this question here on Beesource I found that question has been asked several times. The answers ranged from 1/4 mile up to 6 miles.


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## gone2seed (Sep 18, 2011)

BoilerJim said:


> The answers ranged from 1/4 mile up to 6 miles.


Yeah,somewhere within that range so everyone was correct.Old fat mama coming out with the prime swarm won't go far but the afterswarms coming out with virgins head for the tall timber.


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

So how far do you thing the prime swarm might go?


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## Keth Comollo (Nov 4, 2011)

In his book on swarm research Dr. Seely found that bees would travel a few hundred yards to six miles. It is the quality of the new home (swarm trap) that seems to make them want to stay. If you have an apiary 2 miles down the road and there are 3 quality places for them to make a new hive between the apiary and your swarm trap your chances are slim. 

Bottom line is more traps equal more chances. Like fishing, the more lines in the water the more fish in the basket.

I have ten traps deployed over a very large area of southern Vermont. Too early for us here but they are sitting there and ready. Fishing!


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

I’ve watched a prime swarm leave the limb of a tree and fly away…out of sight. Over a mile. On the other hand I’ve seen them move into some old equipment that was stacked less than 300 ft from the parent hive.


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## JYawn (Dec 6, 2011)

So it seems like there isn't a predictable "Zone".... but what I'm hearing is good. I live right up next to a small mountain ridge so I'm sure the bees are coming from the woods in the area. Hopefully I'll catch some.... If not I've still got a package on the way in early May.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I would say a quarter mile is most likely. Within 1 1/2 miles is next as they seem to know that area well. It would drop off from there with 6 miles not unheard of.


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## Cox89XJ (Jun 21, 2011)

The swarm I got on the 27th of March was only about 70 feet from the parent hive. Like mentioned above, the big fat mama didn't go far. I hope she is more satisfied in her new home than she was in the other hive. She had some pretty mean off springs. Last fall they were not mean at all, but for the past few weeks my little black dog could not get within 30 feet of the hive without them getting after her. Maybe skunks have been bothering them? By the way, they didn't like my black Farmall cap either. I had to stop wearing it when close to the hives.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I've seem them move next door a few inches away... but 1/4 mile is the most typical distance...


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## enchplant (Apr 10, 2011)

From what I have observed with swarms, they seem to come out of the original hive and then settle on a bush or a tree. Then they start selecting sites. I don't think they fly out of the original hive and fly directly to the new location they are going to move in to. When I read Seeley's amazing book 'Honeybee Democracy' he talks about that voting process where scout bees come back to the swarm with suggested sites to inhabit and do their dance on the surface of the swarm blob. Then more scouts follow those directions and go check it out until finally there is consensus as to which site gets the most votes.


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