What Species of Trees May Attract a Swarm?

by Heather
(West Virginia)

Hello Mr. Beekeeper!

We are new beekeepers, we got our first two hives about a month ago and are completely hooked on honey bees!

We have asked a couple of beekeepers about a species of tree we could plant a few yards from the hives that would be attractive to them if they were to swarm. A few people have suggested a long needle pine, however, we were hoping to plant a tree that would mature at no taller than about 30 feet.

We live on 120 acres that is heavily wooded with very tall hard woods. Should our bees decide to swarm next year, we were hoping to have a tree nearby that may attract them instead of a 100 foot Red Oak!

Do you think they would possibly swarm on an ornamental pear, dwarf fruit tree, or almond tree?

We greatly appreciate your answer and the time you are devoting to educating people on honey bees!

Keep up the great work, your site is awesome!!

Heather

Hi Heather

Thanks so much for your kind comments.

I'm sorry to say that I don't think there is any tree which is likely to attract a swarm. It seems to me that the position of a tree has much more to do with where a swarm decides to cluster rather than the type.

I've collected hundreds of swarms from all sorts of situations and I really can't think there's any common factors that I can identify. Who knows what goes through the collective 'mind' of a swarm as it alights?

The tree is merely a rest stop, a gathering place or stepping stone. As long as it is in a place where a queen can land, and I'm not sure it's necessarily the queen which does the leading, it won't matter whether it's a evergreen tree, a deciduous tree or a lounge chair.

However I do have a suggestion. Rather than growing a tree to catch swarms, why not put up a bait-hive, or swarm-trap or two?

The swarm trap has the advantage that if a swarm lands in a tree high up or out of sight, the scouts will go to work to find their new home. There's an excellent chance they'll find your swarm-trap. The swarm collects and hives itself, even if you're not there. Several times I've had swarms occupy a hive box as it sat on the back of my truck!

You can't outsmart the bees, but you can often make their behavior work to your advantage.

The Bee Guy