> The lower weight of the queens from colonies rearing queens indicates that the colonies' preparations for swarming included physiological changes in their queens. This weight loss by queens prior to swarming has already been documented (Morse et al., 1966) and undoubtedly reflects the need to trim a queen's weight before she can fly with a swarm.

> Queens from crowded honey bee colonies which were preparing to swarm contained no less queen substance [ (E)-9-oxodec-2-enoic acid ] than similar-age queens from uncrowded colonies not preparing to swarm. 

Queen Substance Production in Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Colonies Preparing to Swarm
TD Seeley, RD Fell - Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 1981

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