> When the eggs reabsorbed., most of the yolk will be lost. We used stain to check the egg chamber but every thing stayed intact. No loss of eggs.  The nucleus and small amount of yolk will be in the egg chamber surrounded with the soft chorion.

OK.  Let's see if I understand this:  The yolk is the embryo, or will be.  It remains intact, but it and the rest of the egg looses nutrients and, I would assume, considerable water, so that the bulk is reduced.  In other words, the development of the chain of eggs towards being ready to lay reverses until the queen again is ready to resume laying?

Is the majority of weight loss prior to swarming or in fall due to reduced bulk in the eggs, or do the ovorioles and other parts of the queen herself contribute to the shrinkage?

Of course, an obvious question is where the liquids and nutrients go, and what are the breakdown products?

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