Well, were I live the swarming season seems to have just started. At least I caught one 2 days ago, and 2 of my friends caught one each a day or so earlier. They live 8-10 miles from me. The only time I have previously noticed swarms in Michigan has been late May and 2 weeks into June or so. Nothing scientific about the observation. I missed one swarm that I am guessing was quite early this year. The bees are still soft and flexible. They clearly starved to death, shrunken abdomens and noses into empty cells. They flew in, built some comb and died. So maybe swarmed before there was much blooming? I haven't pulled apart the combs to see if there are any signs of brood rearing. I had 4 dark comb frames and they built very clean looking comb on the bottoms and out one side.
I used to spend a lot of time in the woods and fields where I live. I am constantly scanning for bugs and plants because as the son of an entomologist I spent 6 weeks per year in the field at least. This is how he trained all of us kids.
So I noticed that I didn't see honey bees much at all. Sometimes 1 or 2, but nothing like the old days. I was under the impression that there simply aren't many feral hives in my area. I expect there may not be for a few miles, but I guess it's kind of a checker board population wise, with swarms spiking populations in an area and then mostly dying out. Tree hive I have found have all been 1 year events.
I'm glad to see a renewed interest in BK among locals. I have been trying to locate area BK just out of curiosity. It might prove worthy in making casual suggestions on best management practices although I have a long way to go learning that. Regardless of management philosophy's, We can do something to promote BK.
Thanks for your input. I have many an hour of observation ahead of me.