A theoretical analysis of individual interests and intracolony conflict during swarming of honey bee colonies

Abstract

Interactions within animal societies are a complex mix of co-operation and conflict. This paper examines how the individuals in the honey bee colony, a society exhibiting an extreme degree of co-operation, are, nonetheless, in conflict during certain of the colony's activities at the point of greatest conflict in honey bee social life: the division of the colony between queens during colony fission or swarming. Here, the decisions are made regarding which queens leave with swarms and how many swarms (queens) are produced. These choices are ultimately shaped by ecological consequences in terms of survival of the swarms produced. This analysis suggests an explanation of the initially counter-intuitive forfeit of the established nest by the mother queen, and a context for understanding the variation in worker behavior toward virgin queens. It also suggests that the 'afterswarming syndrome' of behaviors, including piping behavior of queen bees, reflects the result of manipulation of virgin queens' interests by worker bees resulting in a resolution of conflict through a forced alignment of interests. © 1993 Academic Press Limited.