the new queen matures, she will take mating flights and begin to lay eggs to increase
the bee population as most had left with the swarm.
Swarms look intimidating but are usually harmless and rarely sting, because the
bees do not yet have brood, honey, or hive to defend. The exiting swarm will land
somewhere nearby to rest, and the worker bees will cluster around the queen to
protect her while some scout bees leave to search for another suitable home. Once a
home location is found, the swarm will create a hive and continue their activities in
foraging and raising bees. Under ideal conditions, European honey bee colonies
swarm approximately once or twice a year [10].
2.2.3 Honey Bee Communication
Pheromones
The honey bee has two primary modes of communicating with other members of its
colony: pheromones and dances, particularly the “waggle” dance. Pheromones are
chemicals secreted from honey bee glands that affect behavior in other bees and thus
affect all aspects of colony life. The waggle dance is a physical activity done to
convey spatial information of a resource location.
Pheromones are transmitted by direct contact as liquid or vapor and received by
bees’ antennae and other body parts to trigger behavioral or physiological responses,
usually in the same species [11]. Pheromones are secreted by all colony members
from queen, drone, worker bee, to brood (particularly the larvae), and allow communication among all castes. They are involved in all aspects of colony life
including reproduction (queen mating and swarming), brood development, defense,
foraging, building hive comb, and other activities [12].
Some glands and pheromones are caste-specific. There are two types of pheromone effects: releaser, which temporarily affects the recipient’s behavior, and
primer, which has long-term physiological effects. The queen signal and brood
pheromones are of the primer type, while most worker bee pheromones are considered the releaser type.
Queen bee pheromone (queen mandibular pheromone) has different effects on
different bee castes. For example, it serves as a sexual attractant for drones during the
mating flight while also serving to attract the queen retinue, which is a group of
worker bees whose role is to attend to the queen. The pheromone is responsible for
inhibiting additional queen rearing, suppressing fertility in worker bees, keeping a
swarming bee cluster together, stimulating worker bee activity around the hive, and
generally calms a swarm.
Drone pheromones are concentrated upon sexual activities, such as attracting
other flying drones to aggregate at sites suitable for mating with a virgin queen [13].
Brood pheromones secreted by larval salivary glands and serve to regulate brood
development and care by chemically communicating needs to nurse worker bees.
Along with queen pheromones, brood pheromones suppress worker ovarian development, since fertile worker bees do not work as much as sterile. Finally, the level of
1 Understanding, Conservation, and Protection of Precious Natural Resources: Bees
9
the bee population as most had left with the swarm.
Swarms look intimidating but are usually harmless and rarely sting, because the
bees do not yet have brood, honey, or hive to defend. The exiting swarm will land
somewhere nearby to rest, and the worker bees will cluster around the queen to
protect her while some scout bees leave to search for another suitable home. Once a
home location is found, the swarm will create a hive and continue their activities in
foraging and raising bees. Under ideal conditions, European honey bee colonies
swarm approximately once or twice a year [10].
2.2.3 Honey Bee Communication
Pheromones
The honey bee has two primary modes of communicating with other members of its
colony: pheromones and dances, particularly the “waggle” dance. Pheromones are
chemicals secreted from honey bee glands that affect behavior in other bees and thus
affect all aspects of colony life. The waggle dance is a physical activity done to
convey spatial information of a resource location.
Pheromones are transmitted by direct contact as liquid or vapor and received by
bees’ antennae and other body parts to trigger behavioral or physiological responses,
usually in the same species [11]. Pheromones are secreted by all colony members
from queen, drone, worker bee, to brood (particularly the larvae), and allow communication among all castes. They are involved in all aspects of colony life
including reproduction (queen mating and swarming), brood development, defense,
foraging, building hive comb, and other activities [12].
Some glands and pheromones are caste-specific. There are two types of pheromone effects: releaser, which temporarily affects the recipient’s behavior, and
primer, which has long-term physiological effects. The queen signal and brood
pheromones are of the primer type, while most worker bee pheromones are considered the releaser type.
Queen bee pheromone (queen mandibular pheromone) has different effects on
different bee castes. For example, it serves as a sexual attractant for drones during the
mating flight while also serving to attract the queen retinue, which is a group of
worker bees whose role is to attend to the queen. The pheromone is responsible for
inhibiting additional queen rearing, suppressing fertility in worker bees, keeping a
swarming bee cluster together, stimulating worker bee activity around the hive, and
generally calms a swarm.
Drone pheromones are concentrated upon sexual activities, such as attracting
other flying drones to aggregate at sites suitable for mating with a virgin queen [13].
Brood pheromones secreted by larval salivary glands and serve to regulate brood
development and care by chemically communicating needs to nurse worker bees.
Along with queen pheromones, brood pheromones suppress worker ovarian development, since fertile worker bees do not work as much as sterile. Finally, the level of
1 Understanding, Conservation, and Protection of Precious Natural Resources: Bees
9