It is common for Honeybee colonies to swarm . About half of the bees along with the queen leave to make a new home elsewhere. The bees left in the old hive will hopefully be able to make a new queen. As a beekeeper, I don't want my colonies to swarm. I would rather they stay in the colony and make excess honey for me. There are many strategies for reducing or preventing swarms. Some work to a degree, nothing is 100%. We are working against the basic nature of the colony. When I have a colony "issue" a swarm, I want to catch it and place it in a new box. This is not just my desire to have more colonies but only about 50% of swarms that leave make it through the first year. It is usually better for me and the bees if I can re-hive them.
When the bees initially leave their old hive, they cluster in a tree or bush nearby before leaving for their permanent new home. There is not a beekeeper alive that doesn't drool over the site of a large ball of bees hanging in a tree. But sometimes, they are too far up in the tree to catch.
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See the dark blob waaay up in the tree !
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