The cardinal rule in real estate – location, location, location – also holds true for bee swarms seeking new homes this spring and summer, according to UC Riverside Entomologist Kirk Visscher.

For centuries, beekeepers have known that in late spring or early summer a strong honey bee colony will split itself by swarming, a process in which the queen and about half the worker bees leave their hive and establish a new colony, leaving a daughter queen and the balance of the workers behind to perpetuate the old colony. They’re identified as a football-size mass of bees clustered on a tree branch.

So for the wise property owner, the cardinal rule this time of year is prevention, prevention prevention. More specifically, making your home and property unattractive to house-hunting bees, Visscher said.