The effect of induced changes in sexual asymmetry of honey bees (Apis mellifera) on swarming behaviour

This study was built on the assumption that mother (queen) and workers (nurses) distribute their genes either through swarms (female biomass) or through the drones (male biomass). The swarming mood of the bee colonies was suppressed by an exactly defined increase in drone rearing. We studied the efficiency of reproductive investments (on genetic and energetic levels) of the mother and workers to the next generations. The equalization of fitness of the mother and nurses was achieved by a deliberately induced change in numerically stable sex asymmetry of a bee colony. A swarm was compensated with its energy demand and a volume ratio of distributed genetic information. The newly introduced term “reproductive investment complex” (RIC) includes the reproductive potential of the mother and reproductive energy of workers into care for the mother and for the brood. The number of individuals of one sex was closely connected with the weight of individuals of the oppposite sex. The described method of suppression of swarming mood was successfully tested on 60 honey bee colonies over seven years (2003–2009). A number of beekeepers that were acquainted with this method confirmed the success.