Ages of Bees in Swarms and Afterswarms of the Africanized Honeybee

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Abstract
Summary Observations on marked bees in swarms and afterswarms from colonies of Africanized honeybees in French Guiana, South America, showed that 80–100° of bees in the colony that were 3–8 days old left with the prime swarm. This is a much higher percentage than has been reported for European bees in Europe. Afterswarms of Africanized bees showed a similar but more variable pattern. Survival data for workers from hived swarms suggest that the high percentage of young bees in swarms may be significant for the rapid colony growth and short swarm-to-swarm intervals that are characteristic of Africanized bees.