As long as bees have good stores of honey and can fight diseases, they can live in one place indefinitely. Honey bee colonies remain in the hive for years, unless they escape, succumb to diseases or parasites in their young, suffer from the collapse of colonies or suffer the cold, or are razed by predators and insecticides. However, bee swarms only stay in one place for an hour or a few days. This is difficult to answer because it depends on weather conditions and when explorer bees find a suitable cavity to colonize.
Usually, the swarms only stay in one place for a few hours or maybe a day, but some swarms can stay several days. The explorers are most likely looking for a permanent home. Typically, a colony stays in a temporary location from a few hours to a week or more. They could be building a comb up there, but I doubt it.
Swarms of honey bees looking for a new home are very attracted to the places where previous colonies lived. They can detect the smell from a distance, so explorer bees looking for a place to live can pick up the scent and focus on the place. The life expectancy of the honey bee is also determined by the consumption of pollen and the abundance of proteins, as well as the level of activity of the honey bee. The Clemson Beekeeping and Pollination Program is grateful for public support to beekeepers by protecting swarms wherever they may be found.
Depending on the climate and the amount of time scout bees need to find a new nesting site, clusters usually remain motionless for an hour or a few days. Bees begin to increase their workforce every spring in anticipation of the blossoming of spring flowers. If disturbed or agitated, they will defend the group; therefore, it is advisable for people to stay away from a swarm of bees to prevent them from being stung. If bees leave the hive during a dry or winter season, another bee colony may move to the hive during the honey flow.
It was planned to cut down the tree last fall, but the tree workers didn't want to do it because of the bees. A bee colony can only survive in a place if it is clean and large enough to cover its efforts to fill it with honey and pollen, in addition to meeting the needs of the queen, who must lay 2000 eggs a day during the flowering season. When explorers find areas that meet their requirements for light, humidity, temperature, size, and accessibility, they instruct other bees to visit the same region through a dance. Most of the time, the bees stay in the hive to nurse their young, care for the queen, clean the cells, build and cover the diaper, among other activities.
If you want to continue raising bees after your colony is gone, you should plan to acquire a new colony. A worker bee has a short lifespan, 6 to 8 weeks, so new groups of bees will emerge during that period. Bees have evolved to live above a vacuum, preventing the spread of diseases by letting all dead and parasitized bees disappear. Keep in mind that since most wild bees reside in hollow trees, the hive can only last as long as the tree.
