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How does a honeybee swarm establish a new colony?

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bees on a honeycomb — Beekeeping Bees on a honeycomb.

Swarming is the natural method by which honeybees propagate and establish a new colony. When a hive becomes overcrowded, worker bees prepare for this process by rearing new queens.12

Shortly before these virgin queens emerge, the mother queen departs the hive accompanied by a large portion of the worker bees—typically numbering between 5,000 and 25,000. This swarm exits the hive during the middle of a warm day and settles into a tight cluster, often on a tree branch, while scout bees search for a suitable new homesite. Once the scouts locate a new domicile, the cluster breaks, and the entire swarm travels to the new location to begin building a new colony.12

Back at the original hive, the first virgin queen to emerge typically destroys the remaining queen cells to ensure her position as the sole leader before embarking on her mating flights.2