Swarming

[Beedogg]

This is a serious question. From the perspective of the colony/species, what's the rationale behind Cast Swarm(s)?

I get the rationale behind Prime swarms. A mated, mature queen heading off to start a new colony with a large retinue of workers, and laying as soon as the workers can draw new comb. That makes perfect sense as a means of reproduction at the Colony level.

But Cast Swarms? The risks of swarming with an un-mated queen must be huge. I wonder how many Casts actually succeed in establishing a viable colony. And if, as I suspect, the proportion is tiny then the only only tangible effect of Cast swarming is the further weakening of the 'parent' colony.

I don't get it. But I'd love to be enlightened.

 

[JamezF]

You may be anthropomorphising too much in suggesting that there's a "rationale" at all

I'd guess that it's a behaviour that has been successful in evolutionary terms, or at least hasn't been outcompeted by other behaviours. If a colony can produce multiple swarms, at least one of which survives as well as a prime swarm only colony, and the original colony also survives equally well, then there's a possible path there to allow the "multi-swarm" genes to proliferate in the overall population because over time they'll produce more queens and drones that carry them. Over evolutionary time those genes will come to dominate until "everybody's doing it".

James

 

[drex]

Swarm survival, even for primes, is poor anyway. No rationale, apart from the drive to reproduce, which is strong.

 

[enrico]

purely reproduction, even human mating doesn't give a child every time..... phew!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It was why in the mediaeval times the upper classes, through the church used to encourage the great unwashed to reproduce as so many died in infancy they had to ensure a good supply of cheap labour/cannon fodder