>> had a great idea while answering this question, and put down that with the
>> increased population the concentration of queen substance was less (per
>> bee, i mean).  Doc Morse graded the exam and when i got it back there was
>> an emphatic "NO!" sprawled across that part of my answer.
>
>I think he was too hard!  Its always been one of the simplified
>explanations I've heard and used.  And when the queen begins to age,
>she just doesn't provide enough pheromone *per bee* to maintain the
>colony social order, and it leads to swarming...
>
>Give yourself half credit and tell them I said it was OK!  :)
>
>
>------------------------------------------
>Nick Wallingford
>President - National Beekeepers Assn of NZ
>NZ beekeeping: http://www.wave.co.nz/pages/nickw/nzbkpg.htm
>work [log in to unmask]         home [log in to unmask]
>------------------------------------------
>
Hi Nick & Joel;
 
        Your Prof, was correct to say no, I consider his reaction, to accept
your exam paper at all,as a resit should have been demanded.
 
        Your hypothesis regarding queen substance, is suspect, The queen
secretes this substance, then the nursery attendants carry it to all the
other bees. If this substance is in short supply, the bees become
uncontrolable in many areas.
 
        This can be swarming, seperate clusters in the hive, instead of one
cluster or many other reponses. Queen substance is a hive identification
characteristic for that hive, and this enables the guard bees to identify
robber bees.
 
        The number of bees in each hive does not change any of the
transmission characteristics of this queen substance, except when the hive
strength is unable to maintain the hives survival.
 
Thanks from :
                        [log in to unmask]
                 http://www.eastend.com.au/~goble
            [log in to unmask] ( David Goble )
           American Beach Kangaroo Island South Australia