Understanding the Differences Between Swarming and Absconding
The abrupt disappearance of a hive can be very perplexing and
occasionally distressing for many novice beekeepers. What
distinguishes swarming from absconding is one frequently asked
question. Although bees leave their hive in both cases, the reasons
behind these behaviors and the implications for hive management and
health are very different.
A honey bee colony's natural life
cycle includes swarming, which typically takes place in the spring or
early summer. In essence, it is how bees procreate and spread their
range. A significant portion of the worker bees, the old queen, and
occasionally a recently emerged queen depart the hive together during
swarming and gather close by, frequently dangling from a tree branch
or other object.
The original hive splits into two or more groups as a result of this process. While the new swarm establishes a new colony elsewhere, the remaining bees continue to tend to the resources and brood. Beekeepers frequently attempt to control or even prevent swarming by adding more space or forming splits to prevent losing valuable bees. Swarming is typically an indication that the hive is healthy and has enough resources and space.
The emergence of numerous young workers from brood cells is most likely the cause of this phenomenon.However, swarming is not always triggered by the addition of a large number of young workers to colonies. Three factors ,colony/population size, brood nest congestion, and skewed worker age distribution, were shown in studies to produce swarming patterns that were in line with empirical reports. Interestingly, however, each model only produced swarming when all other variables reached a threshold. Since the worker population may be able to care for more brood than the queen can produce, all of these factors act as indicators for workers to know when their colony has reached a point of "replacement stability." As a result, the only method to boost the colony's reproductive output (and maximize fitness potential) is to produce a second queen via swarming.
Pheromones are probably used by honey bees to assess the size, crowdedness, and skewed worker age distribution of their colony.Workers generate and receive vibration signals all year long, and the quantity of signals they receive before a swarm exodus does not increase. Workers, on the other hand, only vibrate queens during swarming; the frequency of these signals rises in the weeks before swarm exodus and peaks just before departure. These vibrational cues speed up a queen's movement and encourage egg laying, which most likely aids in weight loss for flight while guaranteeing egg production.Surprisingly, older workers (i.e., >10 days old) perform vibration before swarm departure signals, even though younger workers (2 versus 6 days old) increasingly attend the queen as swarming approaches.
When the original queen leaves the parental nest, a new queen must take her place. A colony may produce additional swarms (one or more "afterswarms") if it is robust enough after the first (or prime) swarm departs . Within a few days, a virgin queen ,typically the first to emerge from her cell after all swarms have been cast, takes control of the remaining colony and destroys her competitors by stinging them in their cells or engaging in combat with them once they have emerged.Adult virgin queens will battle by grabbing, stinging, and spraying their hindgut contents after calling to one another with various piping techniques known as tooting and quacking.
Initially, workers vibrate emerged virgins, increasing their activity rate and producing more pipes directed by the queen in order to locate the others. Second, workers vibrate queen cells. This slows the emergence of virgins from cells, especially when combined with workers resealing cell caps as emerging virgins cut them open in response to tooting pipes from free queens. By coordinating the release of virgin queens with the departure of afterswarms, these signal-dependent interactions make sure that only one queen takes over the remaining colony at the end of the swarm and that a single queen departs with each swarm. But sometimes multiple virgin queens may depart with an after swarm amd later divide into smaller swarms.
Absconding is more extreme and very different. It involves all of the worker bees abruptly leaving the hive, along with the queen and the entire colony. Absconding typically occurs swiftly and without creating a new swarm, in contrast to swarming. Very little is left behind when bees escape, usually just the empty hive. Unfavorable circumstances within or near the hive are typically the catalysts for absconding. Extreme heat, inadequate ventilation, illness, pest infestations (such as Varroa mites), exposure to pesticides, and other environmental stressors are a few examples. The bees may choose to completely leave the ship in search of a safer environment elsewhere if the conditions become intolerable or hazardous.
Swarming is a fairly predictable and well-understood behavior in European honey bee populations. It frequently indicates a healthy hive with lots of room and nectar. By dividing colonies or adding supers to give the bees more space, beekeepers can control or even prevent swarming. However, the behavior tends to be more aggressive and unpredictable in Africanized honey bees, which are a hybrid of European subspecies and Apis mellifera scutellata. As a survival tactic to deal with hostile environments and limited resources, these bees are more likely to engage in "migratory swarming," in which they depart from their original nest and look for new locations. They are more likely to abscond completely and typically produce smaller swarms, which makes their behaviour more challenging to manage.
Forage is the reason why tropical bees migrate. Tropical bees frequently use it as a tactic to help them endure periods of famine or to relocate away from unfavorable weather. Since the migration strategy is likely to be fatal to the colony, temperate bees hardly ever use it. All Asian Apis species, including tropical, African, and Africanized bees, may exhibit high levels of seasonal migration and use either the hoarding or the migrating strategy to survive times of scarcity.
Different patterns of resource abundance and scarcity serve as major motivators for planned migration. Migration mostly takes place during times of dearth in tropical environments and seems to be caused by a lack of nectar, pollen, or water. In contrast to disturbance-induced absconding, migration is typically seasonal and occurs up to one month before the actual departure of the colony.
In order to reduce or eliminate the brood raised during this time, the queen lowers her egg-laying rate because the nurses reduce her feeding. The workers will eat the few eggs that are laid. The bees also eat the majority of the honey and use all pollen that is stored. The colony will depart as soon as the final capped brood has emerged. By doing this, they guarantee that they have a sizable number of relatively young bees, and the pollen they consume guarantees that their fat bodies will be loaded with stored protein, ready to begin raising new workers in the new colony.Instead of storing extra food that predators could take at any time, they focus their efforts on creating reproductive migratory swarms as a survival strategy.
It's interesting to note that new findings indicate European honey bees may also be acquiring or displaying migratory characteristics, most likely in response to habitat variability and climate change. Given the increasingly erratic weather patterns and dwindling floral resources, this capacity to move rather than simply die under stressful circumstances may be an evolutionary response. As colonies are getting ready for winter and resources are scarce, absconding incidents actually tend to occur more frequently in the fall.
However, if circumstances abruptly worsen, they can also occur in the spring or summer. Beekeepers frequently observe seemingly random clusters of bees hovering around their apiaries. These bees may appear hostile or be reluctant to settle into the hive. It's crucial to realize that absconding is basically escaping an issue, as opposed to swarming, which is a reproductive tactic. The bees are fleeing an environment they deem unsafe or intolerable, not trying to build a new hive. Sadly, absconding colonies frequently fail to survive the winter, particularly if they leave behind inadequate supplies or are weakened by disease or pests.
Some beekeepers have a common misconception that Varroa mite infestations are the only cause of absconding. Although they are a major stressor, Varroa destructor mites are not the only factor that can weaken colonies and cause collapse. A number of variables come into play, including exposure to pesticides, inadequate ventilation in hives, malnutrition, disease outbreaks, and severe weather. In response, beekeepers occasionally minimize these problems by saying things like "My hive was fine last week" or "It was my strongest colony," but neglecting mite infestation symptoms or other issues can make management more difficult. Maintaining healthy colonies depends on identifying and addressing these stressors early on using strategies like mite control treatments, improved nutrition, and decreased pesticide exposure.
In the long term,
embracing these difficulties and being proactive can have a
significant impact.
Responsible hive management requires an
understanding of the main distinctions between swarming and
absconding. While absconding frequently signifies that the
environment has become intolerable, swarming can be an indication of
a healthy, growing colony
References:
- Seeley, T. D. (1985). *Honeybee Ecology: A Study of Adaptation in Social Life*. Princeton University Press.
- Morse, R. A., & Calderone, N. W. (2000). The value of honey bees as pollinators of crop plants in the United States. *Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences*
- Rosenkranz, P., Aumeier, P., & Ziegelmann, B. (2010). Varroa destructor: A comparative review of control methods. *Journal of Apicultural Research*
- Winston, M. L. (1991). *The Biology of the Honey Bee*. Harvard University Press.
- Oldroyd, B. P. (1999). *Honey bee colonies: management and health*. CSIRO Publishing.
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