Swarming Bees Seek a Permanent Home

After a swarm of bees has landed on an object in the vicinity of their hive, they send out scout bees searching for a suitable new home. The natural home of the honey bee is the cavity of a hollow tree. A bee hive is a hollow wooden box which simulates a hollow log. To the great displeasure of many, the hollow walls of a house or building are sometimes chosen by the scout bees to be the perfect cavity for the new brood nest. Here, you see me in the process of catching a swarm of bees before they have the opportunity to move into a nearby house.

Once the swarm of bees has located a suitable cavity, it will fly in a mass movement to its new home. As soon as the bees enter the cavity, they immediately begin building a nest of beeswax. The queen will start laying eggs as soon as some cells are built in the brood nest. This will mark the beginning of a new honey bee colony.
--Richard