Yesterday, while wandering about our Littleton farm, I came across a large honey bee swarm (photo), having attached themselves to one of our piñon pines. Its mass consisted of worker bees and a queen, waiting for scout bees to locate a new hive site.
A common event in the spring, this swarming splits the old colony and the remnant colony will attend to a virgin queen, which emerges from a cell in which an egg was laid by the original queen, prior to her departure. Other virgin queens may leave the hive with small "cast swarms" of worker bees to establish their own colonies.
Swarms, such as the one I found, generally move on within hours or days, once the scout bees have collaborated and agree on a new hive location. Fortunately, my wife and I are now the only part-time residents of the farm and we can easily avoid the swarm until it departs. Since they are focused on their moving adventure, the swarm tends to be rather docile anyway.
