Queen bee

Apis mellifera scutellata 1355021

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Weiselnaepfchen 29a-Detail

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Bienenkoenigin im Puppenstadium 99b

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Capped emergency supercedure queen cells of the honey bee

Queen bee refers to the adult, mated female in a honey bee colony or hive; she is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the hive. The queen bee's primary role is reproductive; she produces the eggs from which all the other bees in the colony are born. This makes her an essential member of the hive, with the health and productivity of the colony closely tied to her well-being and fertility.

Characteristics

Queen bees are distinguished from other bees by their size and behavior. They are typically larger than both worker bees and drone bees. A queen's abdomen is longer, which facilitates the laying of eggs deep within the cells of the honeycomb. Unlike worker bees, queens have fully developed reproductive organs. Worker bees, in contrast, have their reproductive capabilities significantly reduced.

Life Cycle

The life cycle of a queen bee begins as an egg, which is laid by the current queen. The egg destined to become a queen is placed in a specially constructed, larger cell known as a queen cell. The larvae in these cells are fed royal jelly throughout their development, a substance produced by the worker bees that triggers the development of queen morphology and fertility.

After emerging from her cell, a young queen may go on a series of mating flights. During these flights, she mates with multiple drone bees in mid-air; the sperm collected during these flights will last her entire life, which can be up to five years, though 2-3 years is more common in productive hives.

Once mated, the queen returns to the hive and begins laying eggs. She can lay thousands of eggs in a single day. The queen's pheromones also play a crucial role in maintaining the social structure of the hive, influencing behaviors such as foraging and swarming.

Swarming and Supersedure

Swarming is a natural part of the honey bee lifecycle and occurs when part of a colony leaves with an old queen to form a new colony. This usually happens in response to crowding within the hive. Before swarming, worker bees will start to rear new queens in preparation for the old queen's departure.

Supersedure is another process involving queen bees. It occurs when the bees in a colony decide to replace an existing queen due to age, disease, or other factors affecting her productivity. The workers will rear one or more new queens, and the first to emerge will typically kill any other queens or be killed if she is not the first to emerge.

Role in the Hive

The queen bee's primary role is to lay eggs. However, her presence and the pheromones she produces also play a vital role in regulating the hive's social behavior and cohesion. These pheromones help to suppress the development of ovaries in worker bees and influence the behavior of drones and workers.

Conservation

With the decline in bee populations due to habitat loss, pesticides, and diseases, the health and breeding of queen bees have become critical areas of focus for beekeepers and conservationists. Efforts to breed disease-resistant queens and improve the genetics of bee populations are ongoing in the field of apiculture.