The swarm form

One reason bivouacked swarms might abscond after being re-hived is because the scout bees had already made a decision on where to relocate. An individual beekeeper might never hive enough swarms to test this hypothesis, but the collated experience of lots of beekeepers should provide an unambiguous answer.

This is an example of Citizen Science.

It's frustrating when a swarm you have gone to the trouble to re-hive absconds, never to be seen again. If my suggestion — that the scout bees 'lead' the swarm to pastures new — is correct, it would be advisable to re-hive swarms some distance away from where they were collected.

I discussed this idea in detail in two posts in early 2025:

• Absconding swarms and Citizen Science describes the process of swarming, the role of scout bees and some information on why Citizen Science can be informative.
• The memory of swarms provides some details on what should be recorded and why.

Preliminary data collected in 2025 was encouraging, but not conclusive. I am therefore re-running the survey in 2026.

I presented the preliminary results in early April 2026 (and updated this 'swarm form' at the same time).