Reproduction

Superorganism reproduction is not a single queen laying thousands of eggs. A honey bee colony reproduces when it creates a new honey bee colony. This process is called swarming. Swarming is initiated when daughter queens are produced. The resident queen and up to two thirds of the workers leave the hive to find a new nesting cavity. This process produces a daughter colony (the bees that remain at the original nest site) and a parent colony (the bees that left to find a new nest site).