Читать книгу Honey Bee Medicine for the Veterinary Practitioner - Группа авторов - Страница 105

I would be remiss not to mention that a swarm of honey bees may invade another colony and replace its queen with their own. Such behavior is well‐known for the Africanized Honey Bee (Schneider et al. 2004) but is also occasionally observed in European colonies (Mangum 2010; Oliver pers. obs.). This sort of aggressive usurpation allows a small swarm to take over the combs and valuable food stores of an established colony, thus giving the invading swarm a much better chance at their genetics surviving the winter. The invaded colony is often weak, queenless, or with a failing queen.

Practical application: If a swarm lands next to the entrance of an established hive, an inspection may find a queen being balled on the bottom board, indicating that a hostile takeover has taken place.