ENVS 2210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Socalled, Unit, Spermatozoon

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Environmental Sciences
• Course: ENVS 2210
• Professor: Ernesto Guzman

Document Summary

Unit five colony reproduction and sex determination. Swarming is the natural division of one colony into two or more colonies; it is the natural way of reproduction and dispersal of honey bee colonies. The swarming process implies that a queen and an aggregate of workers (and some drones) leave the mother colony to establish a new colony. This reproductive process is essential for the continued existence of honey bee societies. In regions with temperate climate, the swarming season occurs during mid to late spring or early summer, while in tropical climates it coincides with the dry season. Swarming takes place when resources are abundant in the field, which favours reproduction: factors that favour swarming. As the population of a honey bee colony builds up during the spring, the brood nest becomes congested and the distribution of queen substance is reduced. Workers receiving insufficient amounts of queen substance will rear queen cells and may eventually swarm.