6.21 Swarming Flashcards
What are the 3 stages of swarm selection of a new nest?
Information Accumulation –>Decision Making –> Departure and Moving
Why is the bivoack stage of a swarm important?
This is when they are their own cogniative entity
What pheremone compoents are important for the swarm initally?
9-ODA attracts the bees to the queen and 9-HAD helps to stablise the cluster
How do nest scouts measure the volume of new sites?
They will walk around the inside and also confuct short flights from wall to wall
What glands are used to mark the new potential nest sites?
Nasanov and footprint pheremones
How do nest scouts communciate their fidnings?
Waggle dances. The level of how good the nest is will result in her dance having a longer duation
Compare the average duration of foraging waggle dnaces with nest slectionw aggle dances?
Waggle dances can last 15-30 minutes for nest site slection but only 1-2 mins for foraging
What is the importance of the first stage of swarming?
The information accumulation phase allows as many alternatives as psossible to be found. The swarm employs lots of individuals to find options.
What are the key considerations when making a nest site slection decision?
It needs to be mae accuratly to avoid a poor choice that could result in the colonys demise but also speedily so they aren’t hanging around for ages
What are the 6 key nest site properites?
• Small entrance area (less than 15cm2) = easier to defend
• Higher off the ground (2-5m) = avoided by bears and predators
• Position of entrance at the bottom = minimises heat loss from convection
• Preexisting combs = saves energy on building, a sign it is survivable
• South facing entrance = warms up and snow free mostly
• Medium cavity volume (40 litres) = too small and can’t store enough, too big and they may not fill it and cannot swarm
What are the nest site scouts not worried about?
They do not worry about dryness or dampness as this can be fixed with the propolis envelope.
Why is the distance from the parent colony a compromise for a swarm?
Too close and they will be competing for resources, too far away and they will use
What it is the difference between a quorum and consensus?
A quroum is where enough individuals agree, a consensus is where they all agree.
What are the benfits of quroum decision making?
It allows for a number of indivudals to have assessed the nest site (so we know it is a good one) but doesn’t take the same amount of time that a consenus would. Helps when there are two good options
What happens as a decision threshold is met on the swarm surfaace?
The mantle temperature increases. Piping occurrence and swarm temeprature rise together. Worker piping gets them ready to take off whilst the buzz run acts as the “lets go singal”
