For California beekeepers
The California Swarm List
6,113 honey bee swarms have been reported across 100 California cities this season, each one a free colony for whichever beekeeper gets there first. Swarmed texts or emails you the moment one is reported near your apiary, free, with no membership and no waiting list.
Where the swarms are, by county
Shaded by what was reported this season, with the busiest cities marked. Counties in grey have nothing on file yet, which usually means nobody nearby is set up for alerts, not that swarms aren’t happening there.
| County | This season | On record |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County | 1,781 | 3,562 |
| Orange County | 863 | 1,532 |
| San Diego County | 470 | 1,663 |
| Sacramento County | 446 | 829 |
| San Bernardino County | 437 | 731 |
| Santa Clara County | 386 | 703 |
Show the other 23 countiesShow fewer counties
| County | This season | On record |
|---|---|---|
| Riverside County | 324 | 546 |
| Alameda County | 246 | 481 |
| Ventura County | 181 | 355 |
| San Joaquin County | 137 | 208 |
| San Mateo County | 119 | 246 |
| Placer County | 116 | 269 |
| Contra Costa County | 114 | 289 |
| Stanislaus County | 91 | 114 |
| Yolo County | 67 | 154 |
| Fresno County | 60 | 91 |
| San Luis Obispo County | 56 | 102 |
| Kern County | 43 | 78 |
| Solano County | 43 | 102 |
| Marin County | 30 | 130 |
| Sonoma County | 20 | 104 |
| Merced County | 16 | 30 |
| Nevada County | 15 | 36 |
| Monterey County | 14 | 34 |
| Santa Barbara County | 12 | 71 |
| Tulare County | 12 | 23 |
| Napa County | 6 | 29 |
| Santa Cruz County | 6 | 26 |
| Sutter County | 2 | 20 |
What a season of California swarms is worth
Retail nucs ran $185 to $325 across the suppliers we checked. At the bottom of that range, the 6,113 swarms reported in California this season come to roughly $1,130,905 of bees, arriving free to whoever collects them.
The comparison isn’t exact: a swarm arrives without drawn comb, without a laying-proven queen, and it can abscond in the first week. Most beekeepers who work swarms treat two caught colonies as worth about one bought nuc, which halves the California figure to around $565,453 and still makes a swarm call worth answering.
How fast you need to be in California
A reported swarm in California is typically claimed within 26 minutes. That’s faster than any mailing list or monthly meeting can move, and it’s why a county swarm list stops working once more than a few people are on it. Alerts reach your phone as the report lands, so the question is whether you’re free that afternoon, not whether you heard in time.
When California swarms
Across the 29 counties we track in California, reports peak in April, and alert volume follows the same curve: the weeks either side of that peak are when most of a season’s swarm calls arrive at once. This year is running 13% warmer than the same date last year by accumulated growing degree days, so expect the season to start earlier than it did.
Setting swarm traps in California
The first California swarms of the season are typically reported around late March, so traps want to be hung by early March, before the scouts start searching. That comes from two seasons of California swarm reports and marks the state’s early edge; cooler and higher parts of California run later.
Where to hang them is the harder question. Trap Placement on the Swarmed dashboard ranks the five best spots inside your catching radius, weighing where swarms have been reported, distance from your apiary, other beekeepers nearby and mature tree canopy.
How to build, bait and time a swarm trap, with the season start for every state we can date.
Replacing winter losses in California
US beekeepers lost 30.3% of their colonies over the 2025-26 winter, and replacements get ordered in January and February for an April pickup. Swarm season follows close behind, and this season California has had 6,113 honey bee swarms reported so far.
A nuc ordered in February arrives as a known quantity on a known date, and it’s the right call if you need the colony working a specific crop. A caught swarm costs nothing, arrives on its own schedule around April, and comes with the forager population a package doesn’t have. Most beekeepers rebuilding after a bad winter end up doing both.
Compare nucs, packages and caught swarms on cost and timing.
Everyone in range gets the same report at once
A county swarm list
- A page of names and phone numbers, ordered by whoever is top
- Goes stale between annual updates
- Usually needs association membership and a meeting
- A homeowner who reaches two people who can’t go calls an exterminator third
Swarmed
- Every nearby beekeeper gets the same report at the same moment
- Text, WhatsApp or email, with location and photos attached
- First to claim it gets it, no queue position
- No membership, and you set the radius you’ll drive
Found a swarm rather than looking for one?
This page is written for beekeepers. If bees have turned up on your property, free swarm removal in California lists the cities local beekeepers cover, and collection costs nothing.
Common questions
- How do I get on a swarm list in California?
- Most California swarm lists are run by county beekeeping associations or the state apiary office, and getting on one usually means joining the association first. With Swarmed you sign up, set the area you're willing to drive to, and every swarm reported inside it comes straight to you. There's no membership requirement and no waiting for the list to be updated.
- Does it cost anything to receive California swarm alerts?
- No. Alerts are free for beekeepers. Swarmed is supported by contributions from beekeepers who choose to pay what they think it's worth, not by charging for access to swarms.
- Can I replace winter losses with caught swarms in California?
- Yes for rebuilding numbers, no for a colony a specific crop depends on. US beekeepers lost 30.3% of their colonies over the 2025-26 winter, and replacements are usually ordered in January and February for an April pickup, while swarms arrive later and on their own schedule, peaking in April. In California, 6,113 honey bee swarms have been reported to Swarmed this season, so the supply is there for anyone set up to respond quickly.
- When is swarm season in California?
- Reports across the 29 California counties we track peak in April. Alert volume follows the same curve, so the weeks either side of that peak are when most of a season's swarm calls arrive.
- When should I put out swarm traps in California?
- By early March. Across two seasons of swarm reports to Swarmed, the first California swarms typically appear around late March, and a trap needs to be up before the scouts start searching. Cooler and higher parts of the state run later.
- How quickly do I need to respond to a swarm call?
- In California a reported swarm is typically claimed within 26 minutes. Alerts arrive the moment the report is submitted, so you find out at the same time as every other beekeeper in range.
- Is catching a swarm a real alternative to buying a nuc?
- Roughly two for one. A caught swarm costs nothing and comes with local genetics, but it arrives without drawn comb or a laying-proven queen and can abscond in the first week, so beekeepers who work swarms tend to treat two caught colonies as worth about one purchased nuc. They also don't need ordering in winter for a pickup date months later.