The Use of the Vibration Signal and Worker Piping to Influence Queen Behavior during Swarming in Honey Bees, Apis mellifera

Honey bee colonies reproduce through swarming, in which about half the workers and the laying queen leave the natal nest and form a cluster in nearby vegetation. After a new nest cavity has been selected, the entire swarm cluster and the queen must become airborne and move en masse to the chosen site. Failure of the queen to leave the natal nest or relocate to the new nest cavity will result in a failed swarming attempt. Thus, to a large extent, successful colony reproduction in honey bees depends upon the behavior of the queen. A complete understanding of swarming therefore requires knowledge of the mechanisms that workers may use to coordinate queen activity with colony reproductive and movement decisions. Worker–queen interactions in the natal nest preceding swarming have received considerable attention (Allen 1959, 1960; Fletcher 1975; Winston 1987; Schneider 1990, 1991). In contrast, Correspondence Stanley S. Schneider, Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA. E-mail: [email protected]