The post-swarm hive?

[BaconWizard]

Hi all,

There is lots of information out there about the lifecycle of bees, including the complexities of swarming.

The abridged version as I understand it and as concerns wild bees in their natural state, is that once a hive begins to feel cramped then they will get ready to swarm. If the old/current queen is strong enough then off they go. If she is old but has not been killed then there might be a virgin queen with the swarm.
In either case, there will be emerging potential queens left behind with the remaining colony, some of whom might end-up taking yet another, smaller swarm away with them if they have been unable to kill the other potential queens (and this swarm will likely fail)

But in all circumstances, eventually you end-up with a situation where there remains one queen and some of the old workers.

Ok, now what? Does this queen ALSO swarm after her mating flight? And leave the old hive abandoned? Or does she stay-put and begin laying eggs in the top of the hive, just below any honey reserves?

TLDR: Does swarming = an empty hive afterwards, or succession?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The abridged version as I understand it and as concerns wild bees in their natural state, is that once a hive begins to feel cramped then they will get ready to swarm. If the old/current queen is strong enough then off they go. If she is old but has not been killed then there might be a virgin queen with the swarm.

No
The prime swarm will leave with the old queen, the only time it will leave with a virgin queen is if the queen was clipped, she will crash and burn shortly after leaving the hive, the bees will then return to the hive and the prime swarm will leave with the first virgin to emerge.
Basically, a colony may swarm for varied reasons (overcrowding/reaching tipping point size) being the most likely.
The bees will prepare for swarming weeks in advance, they will build queen cells and (usually) they will swarm once the first QC is sealed. About 50-70% of the colony will leave in the swarm and they will be all ages. Once the swarm settles somewhere else, some of these bees will return to the hive.
Once the swarm leaves the remaining bees will click into survival mode, the absence of fresh queen pheromone will make trigger the building of multiple emergency QCs. The colony will then settle down until the first of the virgin queens emerge, then a further proportion of bees may swarm headed by this virgin, this is a 'cast' swarm, they may also swarm with the next virgin out (a colt swarm), then again with a swarm called a filly.
If the beekeeper doesn't manage this situation they may end up with a colony swarming itself into non existence.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

TLDR: Does swarming = an empty hive afterwards, or succession?

No, normally, after a swarm a new queen will emerge, get mated and head this depleted colony and hopefully it will build up again.

 

[BaconWizard]

^Thanks, that's all much clearer.

 

[Beedogg]

The colony will then settle down until the first of the virgin queens emerge, then a further proportion of bees may swarm headed by this virgin, this is a 'cast' swarm, they may also swarm with the next virgin out (a colt swarm), then again with a swarm called a filly.
If the beekeeper doesn't manage this situation they may end up with a colony swarming itself into non existence.

Does anyone know Why they behave this way? I get the idea of reproduction at the colony level driving the initial swarming urge. But I'm not sure I understand what motivation drives the cast swarm(s). Surely from a evolutionary point of view the bees remaining in the old site after the first swarm has left would be better concentrating on re-building their colony.

 

[Sutty]

Does anyone know Why they behave this way? I get the idea of reproduction at the colony level driving the initial swarming urge. But I'm not sure I understand what motivation drives the cast swarm(s). Surely from a evolutionary point of view the bees remaining in the old site after the first swarm has left would be better concentrating on re-building their colony.

Presumably in at least some areas (and where they evolved the behaviour) a reasonable proportion of cast swarms and the original colony still survive thereby resulting if higher colony reproduction, and so selection for the trait.