Swarming Cluster

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PLATTSBURGH CITY, NY - 8/19/22

© 2022 Luke T. Bush

Way up in a downtown tree the object appears to be a beehive. But closer inspection with a telephoto lens reveals it’s really a mass of honeybees in a large cluster. When a nest becomes overpopulated a new queen and some worker bees leave the nest in a huge swarm to establish another colony. The queen emits pheromones after landing in a tree to draw her followers to her, forming the temporary cluster. The tree swarm waits as scouts go out to find a new location for a nest. 

When this photo was taken part of the cluster had been carefully removed, a second relocation effort to follow with the remaining honeybees.