For beekeepers
Swarm calls, without the swarm list
25,037 honey bee swarms have been reported across the states we track this season, every one of them a free colony for the beekeeper who got there first. Getting on a county swarm list usually means joining an association and waiting for someone to update a page of phone numbers. Swarmed sends every nearby beekeeper the same report the moment it comes in, free, and first to claim it gets it.
What a swarm list actually is
A swarm list is a roster of beekeepers willing to collect swarms, kept by a county or state beekeeping association and handed out to whoever answers the phone. Someone finds bees, calls the number on the association website or their county extension office, and works down the list until a beekeeper picks up.
It works, and it has been how this is done for decades. The gaps are structural rather than anyone’s fault. Most lists require association membership, so joining is a paperwork and dues question before it is a beekeeping one. They are ordered, so whoever sits near the top gets the calls and newer names wait. They are edited by hand, so a list can be a season out of date. And they depend on the caller finding the right list at all, which is why a swarm hanging in a suburb three towns over may never reach you.
How to get on a swarm list
For the traditional route: find your county or state beekeeping association, join it, and ask the swarm coordinator to add you. Expect to give a phone number, the area you will travel to, and some indication of experience. Many associations also ask that you carry your own equipment and respond within a set time.
Swarmed is the other route, and you can do both. You sign up, draw the area you are willing to drive to, and every swarm reported inside it reaches you the moment it is reported. No membership, no queue position, no coordinator relaying a message. Everyone in range gets the same report at the same time and the first to claim it takes it. It is free for beekeepers, supported by contributions from people who decide it was worth something.
Swarm calls bring you swarms someone has already found. A bait hive catches the ones nobody sees, and the swarm trap guide covers building one and when to hang it in each state.
Choose your state
Ordered by how many swarms were reported this season, busiest first, so the states with the most swarm calls to answer come at the top.
- California6,113 reported
- Florida3,211 reported
- Texas1,998 reported
- Ohio1,642 reported
- Minnesota1,516 reported
- Pennsylvania1,172 reported
- Arizona903 reported
- Massachusetts775 reported
- Michigan775 reported
- New York756 reported
- New Jersey730 reported
- Illinois693 reported
- Missouri646 reported
- Georgia595 reported
- Wisconsin471 reported
- Oregon458 reported
- Washington295 reported
- New South Wales276 reported
- Indiana257 reported
- Colorado249 reported
- South Carolina214 reported
- North Carolina209 reported
- Idaho184 reported
- Connecticut170 reported
- Tennessee145 reported
- Virginia108 reported
- Maryland100 reported
- Kentucky99 reported
- Louisiana83 reported
- Nebraska73 reported
- Oklahoma73 reported
- Utah48 reported
Common questions
- What is a bee swarm list?
- A swarm list is a roster of beekeepers who have volunteered to collect swarms, maintained by a county or state beekeeping association. When someone reports bees, a coordinator or the public works down the list until a beekeeper is reached and agrees to come out.
- How do I get on my local swarm list?
- Find your county or state beekeeping association, join as a member, and ask the swarm coordinator to add you. You will usually be asked for a phone number, the area you are willing to travel to, and some indication of experience and equipment. Most associations expect members to respond within a set time.
- Do you have to be in an association to collect swarms?
- For most traditional swarm lists, yes, membership comes first. Swarmed does not require it. You set the area you cover and every swarm reported inside it is sent to you directly, with no membership and no queue.
- How do beekeepers get free bees?
- Swarm calls. A swarm resting in the open is free to whoever collects it, which is why associations keep swarm lists and why Swarmed exists. Set the area you cover and every swarm reported inside it is sent to you the moment it comes in; the first beekeeper to claim it keeps the bees. Bait hives and swarm traps catch some on their own, but a report tells you exactly where a swarm is right now.
- Is Swarmed free for beekeepers?
- Yes. Receiving swarm alerts and claiming swarms is free. Swarmed is supported by contributions from beekeepers who choose to pay what they think it is worth, rather than by charging for access to swarms.
Outside the United States
This list covers US states. Canadian beekeepers have their own starting point, because registration there is provincial and the rules differ by province: beekeeping in Canada. If you are not sure whether what has been reported to you is a swarm at all, the swarm identification guide covers swarms, established nests and wasps.