ENVS 2210 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Mid Day, Retina Horizontal Cell, Parthenogenesis
7 Dec 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Natural colony reproduction to continue the existence of the colony. Honey bees in a swarm are gentle and can easily be handled. Today, most beekeepers try to prevent swarming. Bee swarms in public can become inconvenient, stinging hazard etc. But is valuable (potential to start a colony) for rural subsistence farmers. However it is not a threat if simply left alone. Begins when queen lays eggs in queen cells and leading to developing queens. Natural when queen receives low queen substances. Clusters nearby temporarily before moving to a new hive = swarm. The parent colony left behind, may have 1 or more queens, still dividing workers. Swarm contains 40-80% of the original worker population. The first swarm is usually only having the mated queen. Could have the virgin queen if weather delayed swarming. Afterswarms are smaller, could contain more queens. Preparation begins when queen lays fertilized eggs in queen cups.
