Swarming is the honeybees only way of perpetuating the species. A colony will prepare for swarming by creating numerous queen cells. Before these new queens emerge, the old queen stops laying eggs and her body gets smaller as it prepares for flight. Many of the worker bees engorge on honey and do no work.The number of bees available to process incoming nectar decreases. Then, usually on a good day in mid-morning or early afternoon about half of the colony suddenly leave the hive. The sound of the swarm can be heard as this swirling mass of bees rises into the air for awhile before landing on a nearby branch of a tree or other suitable landing place. There they may stay there for a few hours or several days. During this time scout bees are out searching for an acceptable new home. When that new home is found, the bees will once again rise into the air and form a roaring mass of swirling bees and fly away.

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