The recently swarmed colony that I housed in a hive has been on my mind, so I decided to check on it. I observed that worker bees were  already collecting pollen, filling their “pollen baskets”—the specialized structures on their hind legs—with granular pollen and returning to the  hive. I saw several bees entering through the hive entrance, confirming that they are actively functioning. Next, I inspected the original hive where the swarm had occurred. I found a large queen cell left on the frame, its cap neatly cut, indicating that  a new queen had emerged from it. Although I tried to locate the new queen, she was difficult to find. Not wanting to disturb the colony further,  I gently closed the hive and left it as is.

The swarming colony, which constitutes about half of the total population, takes half of the stored honey and fills its “honey stomach” before  leaving the hive, making the original hive appear rather empty. However, since it is the nectar flow season, the bees are continuously bringing  in nectar. The new queen will begin laying eggs after mating, so it probably won’t take long to recover and return to its original state. As I mentioned before, mating takes place around 20 to 30 meters above the ground, where male bees from various colonies gather and wait for the queen to arrive.

After the queen bee completes mating and returns to the hive, she focuses solely on egg-laying, producing around 2,000 eggs per day,  which is roughly equivalent to her own body weight. However, there is always a risk that she could be eaten by birds or meet an unfortunate  fate during mating, so she must return to the hive safely in order to be considered fully mature. Fortunately, she typically returns without incident,  so there is no cause for concern. In any case, this time of year is busy for the bees, as there is an abundance of nectar, and they are focused on  increasing the colony’s population.