BEES AND REPRODUCTION

Swarming is the way in which bees reproduce. Typically, it occurs in spring or summer and is closely linked to weather conditions. The formation of the new colony takes place when the queen bee leaves the original family with a large number of worker bees, ready to form what is known as the primary swarm. Meanwhile, within the family of origin, it was thought of developing other new queen bees, ready to replace the one that will leave the hive.

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It should be borne in mind that the possible presence of more queen bees in the family would set the tone for total chaos.
Unthinkable situation! In the circumstance in which there are more queen bees, it is possible to carry out a secondary swarming or even a tertiary swarming that would only weaken the original family. It is common for one of the new queen bees to try to mate through a nuptial flight and following fertilization will try to eliminate the others, counting on the help of worker bees. Generally, when the new queen bee is born, the swarm leaves the hive by placing itself on a branch near the apiary. It is up to the exploratory bees to search for the most suitable hollow tree to create the new colony.

Once they have found the right place, the explorer bees warn the swarm that it will leave by emanating Nasonov's pheromone, a scented trail that serves to keep them together. The old queen, after a couple of broods is replaced by a new one. As for the secondary swarms, the queen is a virgin and will try to mate once she leaves the nest. However, if she were killed by a swallow or a hornet, the family would disappear for the simple fact that inside the new nest there are no more eggs to be able to raise another. Here is the reason why the primary swarm is larger than the secondary one.

All the bees that make up the swarm when they leave the hive are filled with honey that acts as nourishment: sometimes finding a new nest can be difficult. The virgin queen bee, which survived a particularly hot day, comes out of the hive and mates with twelve / then drones, whose sperm is stowed inside the spermatheca. Fertilization takes place only later: the egg passes from the oviduct to the exit and the sperm goes to fertilize it. It is at this very moment that the passage of the genetic characteristics of the drone occurs.

We specify that if the egg is fertilized, a diploid bee is born that possesses the genetic characteristics of both the mother and the father. If, on the other hand, the egg is not fertilized, the drone is haploid and therefore possesses only and exclusively the genetic characteristics of the mother. If, on the other hand, the spermatheca is empty, a fucaiola queen bee is born, as it can only give birth to drones. This results in the end of the family, as worker bees no longer have eggs from which to raise a new queen bee. Therefore, there will no longer be the turnover of worker bees. When the worker bees realize the lack of efficiency of the queen bee, they can replace it, provided that the weather conditions are favorable for a nuptial flight and there is a high number of drones in circulation.