Experts sound alarm as North America’s bees start swarm season unusually early

After a series of record-breaking US heatwaves , the 2026 bee swarm season in North America has started 17 days earlier than last year, pushing beekeepers to adapt to a rapidly shifting season while raising new questions about how honeybees are responding to the climate crisis. According to a new report published by Swarmed, a tracking network of more than 10,000 beekeepers, focused on safe and ethical honeybee relocation, this year’s unusually early swarm season follows several years of record colony declines worldwide. Bee swarming is a natural reproductive process that typically occurs in spring in response to overcrowding and limited space within the hive. During swarming, a colony splits into two or more groups as the original queen leaves with approximately half of the worker bees to establish a new hive, while the remaining bees stay behind to rear a new queen. Honeybee overcrowding has already become a problem for wild bees. Because honeybee populations are artificially elevated, they often outcompete wild bees for nectar and pollen, especially in environments where resources are limited. This places additional pressure on wild bee species, which are already experiencing far steeper population declines. The early start to this year’s swarm season follows the largest honeybee die-off in recorded US history, when beekeepers reported losing more than 60% of their colonies last year. …