Fritz von Meyer was born in
Leipzig,
Germany and became one of
Adolf Hitler's top scientists specializing in
toxicology and
melittology. Escaping capture after
World War II, he was a beekeeper or
apiarist in
South America and discovered a colony of mutated bees. Intrigued by their intelligence and passive nature, von Meyer attempted to enslave the queen bee but failed and the bees devoured him, leaving only his skeleton. The bees' unique qualities caused von Meyer's consciousness to be absorbed into them, allowing him to manipulate the hive to do his will while his skeletal remains are inside the swarm itself. His consciousness merged with the hive to the extent that they are one being, calling himself/themselves "Swarm". Swarm battled the
Champions. After being defeated, Swarm resurfaced to battle
Spider-Man. In the first of many fights, Spider-Man prevailed against him when the web-slinger's costume was dosed in a new type of
insecticide that hurt the bees if they got too close. Swarm lost his/their skeleton in this battle but returned to fight again (no longer having the skeleton but still possessing von Meyer's consciousness), first teaming with
Kraven the Hunter against
Iceman and
Firestar, then against Spider-Man, but feedback from a weapon fired by the
Rhino caused Swarm's bee body to disperse temporarily. Swarm next appears when a Super-Collider from
Rand Industries is activated and called his/their attention. Swarm decides mankind should be exterminated so insects can rule the world.
Doctor Druid convinced Swarm that mankind will exterminate themselves and the age of insects can begin. Eventually, Swarm was tired of waiting and returned to New York, after a psychic wave generated by
Onslaught disrupted the psychic field that bonded him and the bees together. He forced a group of scientists investigating energy fields to help him not only restore his original field, but expand it to grant him control of every bee on Earth. As
New York City is invaded by bees, the
Scarlet Spider tracked the bees to their destination and — taking advantage of the fact that the swarms' instinctive memory of Raid caused the bees to automatically flinch away from Spider-Man — infiltrated the building to contact the scientists. By claiming that the scientists' equipment is having trouble broadcasting a sufficiently powerful signal through the dome of bees, Scarlet Spider tricks Swarm into allowing a device's construction designed to negate the vibrational frequency that the bees create to allow themselves to fly, presenting it as a means of boosting the existing signal's power. With the bees now grounded, Scarlet Spider subsequently recovers the queen of Swarm's hive and leaves the authorities' care, reasoning Swarm will not be a future threat without her. Now back with an internal skeleton, Swarm felt that the criminal organization
Pride's fall allowed access to their former territory, specifically
Los Angeles. However, they are defeated by the Los Angeles' protector
Runaways when their bees' mental link is disrupted by electrical blasts. Swarm regains control over his colony and joins the
Chameleon's Exterminators to kill their shared enemy now that Peter Parker's true identity is revealed. Swarm attacks
Mary Jane Watson, but the latter sprays Swarm with water while a co-worker smashes Swarm's skeleton. The bees reform around his skeleton as
Stark Industries' bodyguards take him away. Swarm relocates to Florida, where he encounters Macrothrax and his minions. They are also sentient insect colonies in humanoid form, accidentally created by the invention behind him. Swarm ends up joining forces with
Ant-Man and taking a liking to the latter. ==Powers and abilities==