The Queen Bee

The queen (queen bee) is the only egg-laying female in a honey bee colony, and she holds the colony together with the pheromones she secretes. She does not rule the colony; but the continuity of its population, the temper of the bees and its productivity depend largely on her age and genetics. Even if the beekeeper does not see the queen, they must be able to read her condition from the eggs and the brood pattern.

What is a queen bee and what does she do in the colony?

The queen does not give orders like a "monarch"; decisions in the colony are made through the collective behaviour of the workers. She has two basic functions, and both are indispensable to the colony's existence.

• Laying eggs: All the workers, drones and new queens in the colony come from her eggs. If laying stops, the colony begins to dwindle within a few weeks.
• Secreting pheromones: The queen pheromone secreted by her mandibular glands tells the colony "we have a queen", suppresses ovary development in the workers, holds back the rearing of new queens and keeps the colony orderly.

Around the queen there is a ring of young workers (her retinue) that feed and clean her and spread her pheromone through the hive. When the pheromone weakens (through old age, congestion or disease), the colony moves towards swarming or replacing its queen.

How is a queen bee made?

The queen and the worker come from the same fertilised egg; feeding makes the difference. A larva destined to be a queen is fed large amounts of royal jelly throughout her larval stage and grows in a special, vertically hanging, peanut-shaped queen cell. Worker larvae switch after the first days to a plainer diet of mixed honey and pollen.

That is why the age of the larva is very important. In queen rearing, larvae younger than three days, preferably one day old, are used. Queens reared from older larvae are smaller, with weaker ovaries and spermathecae.

Types of queen cell

• Swarm cells: Mostly on the bottom and side edges of the frames, in large numbers. Built while the old queen is in the hive; a sign of swarm preparation.
• Supersedure cells: On the face of the comb, usually one to three. The colony is replacing its ageing or faulty queen by itself.
• Emergency queen cells: Made by a colony that has suddenly lost its queen by enlarging worker cells containing young larvae; scattered over the face of the comb.

How do you recognise a queen bee?

• Abdomen: Clearly longer and more pointed than a worker's; the wings cover only half to two-thirds of the abdomen.
• Legs and gait: Her legs are longer and her posture is exposed; she moves calmly and slowly on the comb.
• Thorax: Larger and less hairy, often looking shiny.
• Location: Usually found on brood frames with fresh eggs, with a ring of workers around her.
• No working organs: She has no pollen baskets or wax glands.

Finding the queen takes time; marking shortens this considerably and shows the queen's age. The international colour scheme follows the last digit of the year of birth: 1–6 white, 2–7 yellow, 3–8 red, 4–9 green, 5–0 blue.

How does a queen bee mate?

A young (virgin) queen emerging from her cell first seeks out rival queen cells in the hive and destroys them. After maturing for a few days, she goes on mating flights on warm, calm days.

1. The young queen flies to areas where drones congregate; in one or a few flights she usually mates with 10–20 drones.
2. She stores the sperm she collects in the spermatheca in her abdomen and never mates again in her life.
3. She starts laying a few days after the last flight.

If bad weather delays mating for weeks, the queen eventually loses the ability to mate and becomes a drone-laying queen. Eggs should be seen within about 2–3 weeks of the new queen emerging; do not open the hive unnecessarily during this period.

How many eggs does a queen bee lay per day?

Before laying, the queen checks the cell with her head and front legs and decides according to its width:

• In a worker cell she lays a fertilised egg: a worker emerges.
• In a drone cell she lays an unfertilised egg: a drone emerges.
• In a queen cup she lays a fertilised egg: a new queen candidate is reared.

At the peak of the season a good queen can lay about 1,500–2,000 eggs a day. This rate depends on the intake of nectar and pollen, the strength of the colony and the availability of empty cells to lay in. It slows in autumn and in most regions stops completely for a short time in winter.

There is one egg per cell, right at the bottom and in the centre. On the first day the egg stands upright; by the third day it lies down. During an inspection, looking for fresh eggs instead of searching for the queen is both faster and less disruptive: an upright egg shows that the queen has been in the hive within the last three days.

How long does a queen bee live? Ageing and requeening

A queen can live for several years, but her productivity usually declines after the second year. Many beekeepers replace the queen every one to two years. The signs of ageing are:

• A deteriorating brood pattern, with spotty gaps on the frame,
• Drone brood appearing in worker cells,
• Increasing swarming tendency and supersedure cells.

How do you introduce a new queen?

1. Find the old queen and remove her from the colony; the colony must definitely be queenless.
2. If the colony has built queen cells, remove them all before introducing the queen.
3. Place the new queen in a queen cage between the brood frames.
4. Check the cage after a few days; if the workers are behaving calmly towards the cage, release the queen or leave the candy-plugged exit open.
5. Look for eggs after about a week; do not open the colony often during this time.

How can you tell if a colony is queenless?

• No eggs or young larvae: During the season, a complete absence of brood less than three days old.
• Emergency queen cells: Queen cells on the face of the comb, made from worker cells.
• Restlessness: A high-pitched, whining roar and disorganised behaviour when the hive is opened.
• Signs of laying workers: More than one egg per cell, eggs laid on the cell walls, domed drone brood in worker cells.

Colonies with laying workers often do not accept a new queen. In this case, uniting the colony with a strong, queenright colony is usually the most practical solution.

Common mistakes with queens

• Crushing the queen during inspection: Take frames out slowly and do not rub them against each other; the queen is usually on the frame with eggs.
• Destroying all the queen cells: This may destroy a queenless colony's only hope; check first whether there are eggs.
• Introducing a queen without a cage: The new queen will most likely be killed.
• Delaying requeening: An old queen increases the swarming tendency and the risk of winter loss.