HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — As the weather warms up some honey bees may be looking for a new home, so you may see some swarms in trees and bushes.

“Anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 bees hanging leg to leg to leg. They are not violent or aggressive,” Gary Carns said.

Carns is an eighth-generation beekeeper and president of the Capital Area Beekeepers Association.

“A swarm is when the hive gets over congested and the bees realize they are filling up too much nectar in the brood area where the queen needs to lay, so they will produce queen cells which is the new generation of queen that will be born in the hive. Just before they hatch, the old queen and half the bees will leave. The queen can’t fly because her wings aren’t strong like the workers so she’ll stop and sit on a bush and the other ones will stop there too and they are a huge swarm,” Carns said.

The swarm will move on when the queen is ready to fly again unless they find a new home nearby.

“If there is a hollow cavity, whether it is is a tree or your house, and the scout bees have found that they are going to move into your home. What’s bad is when people go and spray them with Raid and stuff like that,” Carns said.

Instead of spraying the bees, call a local beekeeper and they can relocate the swarm.

Capital Area Beekeepers Swarm Collection

“All {the beekeepers} have to do is just simply bump the tree and let the bees fall down and they will crawl right into the new hive. They will run into a new hive like a vacuum pulled them in. The best thing for you and the bees is for you to call us beekeepers and we’ll come get them,” Carns said.

If you see a swarm it is best to appreciate it from a distance. The swarming season in Central Pennsylvania is from May to early June.