I'm a King Bee, Baby/Buzzin' Round Your Hive

I'll get geeky for a second. If you don't want to read this, just look at the cool pictures.

When hives get too crowded, the queen leaves. A lot of bees follow her. The ones who stay behind feed some of the larvae with royal jelly and make themselves a new queen.

The wandering queen finds a temporary perch -- typically a tree branch but, it seems, sometimes a car fender -- and the rest of the swarm settles down and blankets her. Next, the swarm sends out scouts who look for a good, new home, and come back to report on the candidates. After a while -- usually only a couple of hours -- the swarm picks one of the spots and moves in.


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Originally uploaded by goyishekop.