Honey bee colonies are intricate societies, centered around the queen bee. As the sole fertile female, she is responsible for the colony’s reproduction and cohesion. Her ability to lay over a thousand eggs daily is paramount for the hive’s survival. Beyond her reproductive role, the queen produces pheromones that regulate worker bee behavior and unity. These chemical signals influence hive life, from inhibiting new queen cell construction to promoting worker unity and food collection.
The Colony’s Need for a New Queen
A bee colony initiates the process of creating a new queen under specific circumstances, driven by the worker bees’ assessment of the current queen’s status or the colony’s needs. One common trigger is the sudden loss or death of the existing queen, prompting an “emergency” response. Worker bees quickly identify young larvae and convert them into emergency queen cells to ensure the colony’s continuity.
Another scenario is “supersedure,” where the colony replaces a queen due to her declining health, reduced egg-laying ability, or weakening pheromone production. This process often occurs without the colony becoming queenless, and sometimes, two queens may even coexist during the transition. Supersedure ensures the hive maintains a productive queen.
The third major reason for queen replacement is swarming, the honey bee colony’s natural method of reproduction and expansion. When a hive becomes overcrowded, the old queen and a significant portion of worker bees leave to establish a new colony. The remaining bees in the original hive then raise a new queen.
The Queen-Making Process
The selection and development of a new queen bee is a precise process orchestrated by worker bees. They identify young female larvae, typically less than three days old, as potential queen candidates. These selected larvae are genetically identical to worker bees, highlighting that their destiny is determined by environmental factors rather than inherent genetic differences.
Worker bees construct specialized, larger queen cells around these chosen larvae. These cells are distinct from regular hexagonal worker cells, often appearing elongated, peanut-shaped, and hanging vertically from the comb. Queen development relies on the exclusive and copious feeding of these larvae with royal jelly. Royal jelly is a protein-rich, milky substance produced from glands in the heads of young worker bees.
This specialized diet of royal jelly differs significantly from the pollen and honey fed to worker larvae after their initial three days. It promotes rapid growth and the development of fully functional reproductive organs, specifically large ovaries, which are absent in worker bees. The royal jelly’s unique composition, including the protein royalactin, influences the larva’s physiology, leading to the queen’s larger size, extended lifespan, and capacity for high egg production. The larvae continue to feed on royal jelly and grow within their queen cells until they pupate and eventually emerge as virgin queens. The entire developmental process from egg to adult virgin queen takes approximately 16 days.
Queen Succession and Hive Acceptance
Once a new virgin queen is ready, she emerges from her queen cell. If multiple queen cells were initiated, more than one virgin queen may emerge. These virgin queens often engage in a lethal battle, using their stingers to eliminate rivals until only one queen remains. Alternatively, the first queen to emerge may seek out and destroy other developing queens still in their cells. This ensures only one queen leads the hive.
Roughly a week after emerging, the virgin queen undertakes several mating flights outside the hive. During these flights, she flies to specific drone congregation areas, mating with multiple drones from various colonies. This multiple mating ensures genetic diversity within the hive. After successful mating, storing sperm in a specialized organ called the spermatheca, the queen returns to the hive.
Upon her return, she becomes a fully fertile, egg-laying queen and typically remains within the hive for the rest of her life, unless the colony swarms again. Worker bees recognize and accept the new queen primarily through her unique pheromones, especially the queen mandibular pheromone (QMP). These chemical signals help maintain hive cohesion, regulate worker behavior, and confirm her presence and reproductive status. The colony’s acceptance of the new queen ensures its continued survival and prosperity.