The queen bee is the central figure of a honey bee colony, playing a singular role in its survival and cohesion. She is typically the mother of most bees within the hive, ensuring the colony’s future through her egg-laying capacity. She also produces chemical signals, known as pheromones, which help regulate colony unity and behavior. Identifying the queen is a useful skill for beekeepers to assess hive health and address issues.
Physical Characteristics
Distinguishing a queen bee from other hive members involves observing her physical features. A queen is generally larger than worker bees and drones, with a body length typically ranging from 15 to 20 mm, approximately twice the length of a worker bee. Her most prominent feature is an elongated, tapered abdomen that extends noticeably beyond her wings, making her wings appear proportionally shorter. Worker bees have shorter, rounder abdomens with wings that reach their tips.
The queen’s back often appears bald, black, and shiny, unlike the fuzzy backs of worker bees and drones. Her color can vary, sometimes appearing more golden or darker than workers. Her legs are typically longer than workers’, and some queens have light-colored legs that contrast with darker worker legs. She possesses a smooth stinger, lacking the prominent barbs found on worker bee stingers, allowing her to sting multiple times without self-injury. She primarily uses her stinger for dispatching rival queens, not for defense.
Behavioral Cues
The queen bee exhibits distinct behaviors that differentiate her from other bees in the hive. Her primary activity revolves around egg-laying, depositing 1,000 to 2,000 eggs per day during peak season. She inspects each cell before laying a single egg at the bottom center, a characteristic pattern signaling her presence. Unlike worker bees, the queen does not forage for nectar or pollen and lacks specialized pollen baskets on her hind legs.
A notable behavioral cue is the “queen retinue” or “court,” a circle of worker bees that constantly attend to her. These attendant bees feed the queen royal jelly, groom her, and remove her waste products. This constant interaction helps distribute her pheromones throughout the hive, signaling her presence and influencing colony behavior. The queen’s movements are generally calmer and more deliberate than the busy, often hectic, movements of worker bees. When she moves across the comb, worker bees tend to clear a path for her, creating a visual break in the crowded hive.
Finding Her in the Hive
Locating the queen within a bustling hive requires patience and a methodical approach. She is found on frames containing new eggs, larvae, or capped brood, as she actively lays there. Beekeepers begin their inspection by examining frames from the center of the brood nest, where the queen spends most of her time. The brood nest is a compact, spherical area of eggs, larvae, and pupae, usually located in the lower parts of the hive.
When inspecting frames, it is helpful to look for the characteristic pattern of eggs, laid in neat groups, and observe the surrounding worker bees for signs of the queen retinue. If the hive has been disturbed, the queen might hide or move to a less exposed area, making her challenging to spot. Observing her distinct movement, or the pattern disruption she creates as she moves through the bees, assists in her identification.