Auckland hit by swarms of bees after milder than usual New Zealand winter

Engulfing parked cars and blanketing inner-city street signs – New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, is in the midst of an unusually large bee swarming season, that experts say has been exacerbated by a milder than usual winter. The Auckland Beekeepers Association says it is fielding five to 10 calls a day, requesting assistance to remove swarms of bees – with individual members of the association being contacted for help as well.“In past years, it was under five a day,” said Bryan Lang, the association’s swarm control coordinator, adding the team has now dealt with at least 100 call-outs.In October, a swarm plastered the back of a parked car in Birkenhead for two hours according to witnesses. A woman inside was napping at the time, Lang understands.“I’m surprised she didn’t hear them because they’re pretty loud,” he said.A month earlier, a swarm took over a sign at a busy intersection on Auckland’s major commercial thoroughfare, Queen Street, forcing pedestrians to reroute.During spring and early summer, bees can “swarm” – a natural occurrence which sees part of a colony that has outgrown its hive abandon it in search of a new home or extra food. The mass of insects will temporarily find a place to land away from their hive, while scout bees search for an appropriate dwelling.“As a beekeeper, you don’t want them to swarm because you’re losing two-thirds of your bees, and right at the time when they should be bringing honey in for you,” said Lang. “And it’s not great for your neighbours either.”Bee Swarm in Auckland, New Zealand, 20 October 2026. Credit: Shannon GrangePublic awareness is growing over why bees swarm, and what to do should one happen to take over part of your garden or street, and according to Lang, many are taking to social media bee swarming pages and local beekeeping clubs to appeal for help.The association’s president, Ken Brown, says when bees swarm in the countryside, no one really notices, but “townies” are not so familiar.“If you don’t know about bees – how they’re only defensive – then you might be intimidated with thousands of venomous insects flying around,” he said, adding that a colony of bees is at its most placid when swarming.Brown believes a much milder winter and start to spring has led to bees swarming weeks earlier than usual, and larger numbers of bees splitting off from their hives. New Zealand experienced its third warmest winter on record in 2026, according to Earth Sciences NZ. Other parts of the world are seeing similar behavioural shifts in bees, including in North America, as global warming leads to hotter winters and spring.“Beekeeping is much more unpredictable nowadays because you do have the extremes of weather and the different patterns. Every year is slightly different, but it’s actually even more different in recent times,” said Brown.A bee swarm in Auckland. Experts believe a milder winter and start to spring in the city may have led to more bees splitting from their hives. Photograph: Ken BrownMilder temperatures over winter might mean a colony develops a larger brood of eggs, larvae and pupae. If they don’t succumb to varroa mite, a tiny and deadly parasite that attaches to honeybees and their brood, then the survivors will be “much stronger and ready to swarm sooner”, said Brown.Prof Phil Lester, an entomologist and ecologist at Victoria University, said beekeepers have been active catching swarms in other parts of the country, including Wellington.Unmanaged bee swarms that cannot be captured pose a risk to other honeybees or native bees if they are carrying varroa mite. Further, it can be a pain for beekeepers to lose their bees right when they are readying to produce honey.Still, it could be a positive signal for this year’s bee populations, Lester said.“It means they have been able to build up numbers and populations, earlier than perhaps they normally would do … its probably a good indication that it is a good bee year.”