Bee swarms are buzzing around NYC. What should you do if you see one?

Swarms of bees are flocking to trash cans and other sites that invite frequent human interaction all around midtown Manhattan this season, according to multiple media reports, including one in the New York Post.

“It’s a fascinating and terrifying experience,” Nick Rozak, head beekeeper at the nonprofit Bee University NYC and Staten Island chapter president of the New York Bee Club, told the Post.

“You’re standing there, and there’s 20 or 30,000 bees in a tornado flying through Midtown Manhattan, he told the outlet. ”It’s definitely going to make people pay attention.”

More than 200 species of bees have been spotted in the city’s trees, light poles and buildings, according to the city Health Department, and summer is the peak time for them to seek out new homes and food sources.

“A colony of thousands of bees may form a swarm when it is time to leave their hive and form a new one,” according to the city website.

Beehives or nests are often located in trees, in rotting wood, on plant stalks, on light poles or on buildings, the city agency said.

Bees are usually less dangerous than wasps or hornets, which are more aggressive and — unlike bees — can sting you multiple times without dying, according to the city Health Department.

Rozak told the Post that the bees aren’t setting up a new home in the places they’re being spotted. The worker bees are just “hanging out, waiting for further instructions” while scout bees actively look for more hospitable spots for a permanent hive.

The Manhattan swarming is easy to spot because the city lacks greenery, an expert told the Post.

A surge in Manhattan’s corporate rooftop beehives has also led to the higher numbers down where we’re walking, experts said.

Rozak explained that responsible beekeepers prevent regular swarms by “tricking” bees into staying put. It’s not clear if the recent Manhattan swarms are being caused by a beekeeper or “feral” hives, he said.

Call 911

New Yorkers witnessing a bee swarm on city property are urged to call 911, according to the Health Department.

The city has a “bee cop” available to handle swarms, bee experts told the Post. The NYPD has a very small beekeeping unit, which responded to dozens of swarm and hive removal requests in the boroughs between 2019 and 2024, according to Gothamist.

Are the bees dangerous?

The bee swarms are not dangerous, and the bees are “extremely docile” when they’re in a swarm because they’re not protecting babies, food or shelter, Rozak told the Post.