Treccani teaches that swarm is a masculine noun (ancient: sciamo) “s. m. [lat. examen, which also in this sense, as in that of «exam» (properly «needle of the scales»), is a der. of exigĕre, but in the sign. to «push out» (see demand)]. – and as a first meaning it refers to our friends bees:
1 a) Group of worker bees who, with the old queen, abandon the colony which has become too populous, to found a new one (see also swarming) b) . ext. Large group of small winged animals flying together: a sc. of midges, of mosquitoes, of locusts; sometimes it is also referred to animals of another kind that move together: the two animals linked together were attacked by a swarm of green molluscs emerging from the hot fog (S. Nievo). c. fig. Multitude of people or things in motion: a sc. of boys; as soon as they were outside, they found themselves surrounded by a swarm of friends, the whole municipality, one might say, waiting for them (Manzoni); three nuns had gathered, like hens the chicks, a swarm of little girls dressed in white (C. Levi); the baron ... walked ... towards a swarm of umbrellas that could be seen near two carriages (Fogazzaro); one sc. of sailing boats plied the surface of the lake. The phrase is frequent. adv. in swarms, in large numbers: people poured out of the subway cars in swarms; foreigners came in droves to occupy public offices (G. Capponi). 2. In scientific language. and techn., indicates a series of similar phenomena that occur in the same region and simultaneously or in rapid succession. In particular: a. In astronomy: swarm of meteors (or meteor shower), grouping of meteors proceeding with equal speeds on significantly parallel orbits; if it is very numerous it gives rise to the phenomenon of the rain of shooting stars." However, the protagonist of a swarm is female. And then, as always, if we look at section c, we usually learn behaviors from those who matter more than us like bees and if they weren't there we wouldn't be here.
But why do bees swarm?
There is a period of the year, usually between April and early May - with climate change also taking place at the end of May - in which a period of hard work begins for the beekeeper both because the bees begin to forage and produce honey and because it has to face the phenomenon of swarming. Returning to Treccani's definition: when the new queen is being born or has just been born, the swarm abandons the hive and goes to position itself on a branch near the apiary. The scout bees go in search of a suitable place (a hollow trunk, the hollow of a window, a half-hidden crevice of a window or wall) to give life to a new colony so that the old queen (usually it is she who leaves the box) can make a life elsewhere. The new nest made by the bees is made of wax and is light or dark yellow, if different it is not a bee nest but rather a wasp or hornet nest. If you see/have a nest with a swarm near your home or place of work, it is a good idea to call a beekeeper immediately to recover them without killing the bees. Since bees are a protected animal, if you kill a hive you can incur a fine of €1000 to €4000. So it's worth making a phone call, at least to the fire brigade who will then activate a local beekeeper. But why does the Queen decide to swarm and leave her home? Each hive contains only one family of bees. And each family can only have one female founder. So when spring begins, if as it should be, it is warm and the flowers bloom in quantity, the bees go out to pollinate (the bees are female but sterile), and even the Queen goes out once in a life time and mates with the drones (the male bees). The drones play both the role of mating with the queen bee (after which they die) and of maintaining the temperature of the swarm constant, for survival purposes. Given the great excitement of the spring period, the Queen can lay up to 2000 eggs a day and in the following 18 days the family can grow up to 60,000 units per hive. Definitely too many. Among these new bees there is the possibility that a new Queen will be born (in one of what are called royal cells, larger than usual), especially if the one we will call for convenience "Queen Mother" begins to be a few years old (the bees live up to 45 days in this period and the Queen 4 years) and to emit fewer hormones. Life inside the hive is in fact controlled by the Queen thanks to her hormones, through which she gives orders on what to do inside the hive; if hormones are lacking but also if there are climate changes, lack of water or food and a family of bees grows too much, steps are taken to give birth to a new Queen 'more endowed' with hormones.
So the old Queen leaves the hive and takes with her half of the bees present in the hive (almost always the youngest and most vigorous). Since nothing is left to chance, before leaving, the bees in the swarming phase fill their honey sacs with honey so as to have a supply of food for the first days away from home and to produce the first wax which will be used for the construction of the new nest. Since the Queen who swarms is not very young and energetic, while waiting for the scout bees to find a suitable place for her family's new home, she will go and perch on the branch of a tree, almost always near the old hive. And we know she is the Queen - old but Queen - where she lands the others also land. This is how the famous swarming cluster is formed. It is probable that the bees stop there for a day or two, but as soon as the explorers have identified a place that they think is safe, thanks to the famous dance of the bees they communicate to Her Majesty the Queen the exact coordinates of the new home and rejoin the cluster. When she leaves she takes all the bees in the bunch with her: in a few days the new wax nest will be ready and the new family will start their usual life again. However, a swarm never moves more than 3 km from the original location of the first hive and this does not necessarily happen. The factors on which swarming can depend are countless, so if you find yourself faced with a bunch of bees, you have to think that if it is there, the bees have good reasons. Respect them and their Queen and immediately call an expert beekeeper: once the Queen has been identified, he will direct her to a special box for this operation and all the bees in her family will follow her without wondering where or why. Because family is sacred. And about this too we have to learn a lot from bees.
