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Swarmed, the world’s largest open-access honey bee swarm reporting platform, is mobilizing its network of over 10,000 beekeepers as North America enters the 2026 swarm season. The organization highlights the urgency of protecting wild and managed colonies following record losses—U.S. beekeepers reported an average 62% colony loss from June 2024 to February 2025.

With warmer temperatures triggering increased swarming, Swarmed expects to issue more than 300,000 swarm alerts this season, supporting the rescue and relocation of an estimated 350 million bees and saving beekeepers roughly $1 million in replacement costs. Research cited in the release notes that fewer than 25% of swarming colonies survive without intervention.

Swarmed emphasizes that bee swarms, though dramatic in appearance, are non‑aggressive and can be safely relocated—often within hours—by local beekeepers. The organization encourages the public to report any bee sightings, even if uncertain, through its platform at beeswarmed.org/report-bee-colony, which also offers image identification tools to distinguish swarms from other insects.

The press release below outlines how the system connects reporters with nearby beekeepers, describes partnerships with municipal agencies and over 50 beekeeping associations, and underscores the role of swarm rescue in pollinator recovery after severe winter losses. Swarmed, a satellite partner of the UC Davis California Master Beekeeper Program, now maintains the largest public dataset of swarm behavior, with more than 4 million data points collected.