Swarm Season · Spring 2026
How to Catch a Swarm: Free Bees Step-by-Step
A package of bees costs $150–$200. A caught swarm costs you nothing but an hour and a nuc box. Here's how to catch one — from bait hives to live pickups.
TWO WAYS TO GET FREE BEES
Method 1: Bait hives — Set out empty hive equipment baited with attractant. Swarms find you. Passive and hands-off. Method 2: Swarm calls — Get on your local swarm list and collect swarms from people's yards and trees. Active but immediate. Both methods work. Most beekeepers do both.
Method 1: Bait Hives (Let Swarms Find You)
Scout bees from swarming colonies explore potential new homes for days before the swarm departs. Research by Tom Seeley at Cornell found that scouts prefer cavities with very specific characteristics. Match those preferences and scouts will recruit the swarm to your trap.
What Scouts Look For
Cavity volume: ~40 liters. This is almost exactly the volume of a single deep Langstroth hive body with 10 frames — which makes a standard deep box the ideal bait hive. A 5-frame nuc is slightly small but still works well.
Entrance: small, south-facing, near the bottom. About 1.5 square inches (the size of a quarter). Bees prefer a defensible entrance.
Height: 6–15 feet off the ground. Higher is better — scouts look for elevated cavities. Mounting a bait hive on a tree branch, shed roof, or pole at 8–10 feet dramatically increases success.
Scent: old comb and propolis. Scouts are strongly attracted to the smell of previously occupied bee equipment. A single frame of old dark comb is worth more than any commercial lure.
Setting Up Your Bait Hive
Choose Your Trap
A single deep hive body with a bottom board and cover works perfectly. Or use a purpose-built swarm trap — these are lighter and easier to mount at height. Commercial traps are made from corrugated plastic or pressed fiber and include a hanging strap. See swarm traps →
Bait It
The single best attractant is one frame of old dark brood comb — the smell of propolis and wax is irresistible to scouts. Fill the rest with frames of foundation or empty frames with starter strips.
If you don't have old comb, use lemongrass essential oil — it mimics the Nasonov pheromone that scouts use to recruit swarms. Put 2–3 drops on a cotton ball inside the trap. Reapply every 2 weeks. Commercial swarm lures combine lemongrass with other attractants and are very effective. See swarm lures →
Place It
Mount the trap 6–15 feet up on a tree, shed, or pole. Face the entrance south or southeast. Place it near the edge of a tree line rather than deep in the woods — scouts like landmarks. Set traps out by March or early April (before peak swarm season) and leave them through June. Check weekly for activity — scout bees visiting the entrance is the first sign. A sudden explosion of bees means you caught one.
Transfer the Catch
Once the swarm has moved in and you see bees bringing in pollen (usually within 2–3 days of arrival), wait until dusk and block the entrance with a screen. Lower the trap carefully and transfer the frames into your permanent hive equipment. If using a commercial trap with non-standard frames, shake the bees into your hive body and give them frames to build on. Feed 1:1 syrup immediately.
Method 2: Swarm Calls (Go Get Them)
When a swarm lands on someone's mailbox, fence, or tree branch, they call animal control, pest control, or the fire department — who then redirect the call to a beekeeper. Getting yourself on that call list means free bees delivered to your area all season long.
How to Get on the Swarm List
Your local beekeeping club almost certainly maintains a swarm call list — ask at the next meeting. Also register with your city or county animal control, local pest control companies, and your state's beekeeping association website. Some areas use apps or Facebook groups for real-time swarm alerts.
What to Bring on a Swarm Call
✅ Nuc box or cardboard nuc — To carry the swarm home in. See nuc boxes →
✅ Bee brush — For guiding bees into the box. See bee brushes →
✅ Spray bottle with sugar syrup — Mist the swarm to weigh them down and calm them.
✅ Bee suit + veil — Swarms are usually gentle, but always suit up.
✅ Pruning shears or loppers — For cutting the branch the swarm is on. See loppers →
✅ Ladder — Many swarms are 8–15 feet up.
✅ White sheet — Spread under the nuc box. Bees that miss the box will walk uphill on the sheet toward the entrance (bees walk up, not down).
The Pickup Process
Easy swarms (branch, fence post, mailbox): Hold the nuc box directly under the swarm cluster. Give the branch one firm shake — the entire cluster drops into the box. If they're on a flat surface, scoop or brush them in. It takes 30 seconds. The key: get the queen in the box. If the queen is inside, every other bee will follow within 20 minutes. If bees keep leaving the box and re-clustering on the original spot, the queen isn't in the box — try again.
Hard swarms (wall cavity, soffit, inside a structure): This is a removal, not a swarm catch, and it requires different skills and tools (bee vacuum, wall cutting). See our guide to bee removal as income for that process — you can also charge for these jobs.
After the Catch
Leave the nuc box at the collection site with the entrance open until dusk — stragglers will find their way in. Once it's dark, screen the entrance and take them home. Install into permanent equipment the next morning and start feeding 1:1 sugar syrup immediately. Swarms are in building mode — they'll draw comb at an astonishing rate if you keep the feeder full.
Important: Treat for varroa mites within the first week. Swarms carry their mite load with them. An oxalic acid vaporization during the initial broodless period (before the queen starts laying in new comb) is extremely effective — 95%+ kill rate with a single treatment. See our mite treatment guide →
🐝 Swarm Catching Kit
Total kit: ~$110 · A caught swarm saves you $150–$200 in bee costs
Want to prevent your own hives from swarming? See our swarm prevention guide. Turning swarm catches into income? See 5 ways to make money beekeeping.