Page 115 - The Miracle of the Honeybee

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s already mentioned, from early spring on, the queen lays 1,500
to 2,000 eggs a day. If bees in the colony do not take precautions
Ato respond to this increase, then the capacity of the hive will
soon be unable to meet the needs of the rising population. Given the speed
at which the queen lays her eggs, this means that between 45,000 and
60,000 bees are added in a single month. This rapid population rise will
soon lead to congestion and malfunctioning.
As we know, the substance that the queen releases is one of the factors
that establishes order in the hive. As the number of workers increases, the
level of that “queen substance” to each worker must thus decrease. The re-
duction in the quantity of this substance indicates that the time has come
for the hive to solve the problem of its rising population. 91
When there is a rise of population, the measures to be taken are clear:
either the hive has to be expanded, or else the population has to be re-
duced. Bees implement the most appropriate of these two options.
Expanding their accommodations is no answer, because the problem
stems from the insufficiency of the queen mandibular pheromone, rather
than a lack of space. When there is too little of this substance, the females’
ovaries start to develop and the colony’s distinctive odor will weaken. As
a result, the workers will set about constructing new queen cells—and the
equilibrium in the hive will be damaged.
The population-planning method implemented in beehives is the most
rational option. When the population rises too high, the bees set about
lowering it—but not by killing the larvae and pupae, as they must do in
the winter months. They adopt a very rational solution, beneficial from all
points of view. When the population of a hive rises, one portion of the bees
leave in a group, together with the queen and begin looking for a new
place to settle.
This practice, known as swarming, allows the surplus bees to establish
a brand-new colony.

Adnan Oktar