Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
pouring out the front door by the thousands. Staying to keep the home fires burning is
the remaining population. They continue to work and live in the colony as if nothing
has happened, foraging, ripening and storing nectar and pollen, and tending to the new
queen. Meanwhile, the departing swarm fills the air around the colony. It slowly organ-
izes and heads for a nearby location, such as a tree branch or fence post, usually 50
yards (45.7 m) or so from the colony's former home.
Scout bees, those that have investigated possible new homes, join the waiting swarm
and perform directional dances on the surface of the swarm to persuade more scout
bees to visit the prospective locations. When one site draws more visitors than others,
the scouts return and begin the mobilizing activity again. The swarm rises and heads
toward its new home. There, new comb is constructed, foragers begin immediately to
bring nectar and pollen home, and soon the queen begins to lay eggs. A new colony is
complete.
Meanwhile, in the original colony a new queen has emerged and mated and is laying
eggs. The colony continues as before, but it has had a break in its egg-laying schedule
of about three weeks.
Supersedure
Supersedure, or replacement of the existing queen, occurs not when the colony is in
swarm mode, but because either an emergency has occurred or the old queen is failing.
Recognizing a Queenless Colony
Colonies that have lost their queen display some definite behaviors that will cue you in
to the situation. These behaviors, however, can occasionally be noted when the colony
is queen-right (having a healthy, laying queen). It's not always perfectly clear what's
going on, but a close examination usually shows that several queenless behaviors are
occurring simultaneously. As soon as an hour after a queen disappears, the lack of her
pheromonal presence is pretty well understood by all or most of the bees in the colony.
Within a day, sometimes more or less, the bees will undertake emergency supersedure
behaviors.
With the queen's pheromone signals vanishing, the colony becomes stressed, lead-
erless, and without direction. Behaviors include an increase in fanning behavior, seem-
ingly to better distribute what regulating chemicals are remaining in the hive. This fan-
ning is noisy—literally. You will notice the difference immediately when you remove
the hive's cover. At the same time, you'll notice an increased defensive level from the
guards at the front, and even from those who rise to meet you from the top. More bees
in the air, louder sounds, and a generally agitated state typify a short-time queenless
colony.
