6.19 Behaviour Prior To Swarming Flashcards
What pheremone drives swarm intiation?
Queen mandibular pheremone
What initates the swarming process?
A lack of queen pheremones
How can congestion cause swarming?
This can either be through crowding of bees or if the comb cells are congested with nowhere to lay. The strenght of the queen substance being passed around diminishes as it passes through more and more bees
How can a queens age effect pheremone?
After 2 years her pheremone drops to 50%
How can a strong nectar flow initate swarming?
The colony needs to be big enough to decide to swarm. A strong flow can faciliate this growth.
How many weeks are drones reared before swarming?
4 weeks
What happens a week before swarming?
The queen will be fed less to ensure she flys and she lays less eggs as a result.
At what point do foragers start scouting for a new nest?
Before the swarm has even left
What happens 90 minutes before a swarm leaves?
Workers start piping and this activates the bees to start warming their flight muscles. Buzz runs will occur where workers vibrate their wings and run into groups od indivudals. This drives bees out of the hive.
Why do colonies wait till day 8 of queen cell production?
When they are sealed they are more likely to surive and allow the parent colony to live.
Before they leave what glandualr activity do the bees undergo?
They will fill their crops to 50% as need energy to fly. Wax glands start to become active as comb construction is essential for the new colony.
