Space and Density

Abstract

While a colony of bees may well live in the same place for many years, the onset of the temperate spring or tropical wet season is a time of swarming. It is true that such swarms facilitate the reproduction of the mother colony, but the stimuli that lead to this division are another matter entirely. The traditional explanation has it that in good times, such as spring, there is such a rapid growth in the number of offspring and such an influx of nectar and pollen into the nest that the bees are forced to find Lebensraum: there are simply too many creatures for the crevice.