Hornets are social wasps known for their organized colonies and impressive nests. Many wonder if there is a central figure like a “queen” directing activity. Hornet colonies have a queen, who plays a foundational role in the colony’s establishment and continuation.
The Queen Hornet’s Place in the Colony
A queen hornet is the sole reproductive female within a hornet colony. Her primary function is to lay all the eggs, ensuring the colony’s growth and survival. Without her, the colony cannot produce new individuals and would eventually cease to exist. She differs from the worker hornets, which are also female but are sterile.
The queen’s presence defines the colony’s structure, as all other members serve to support her reproductive efforts. Worker hornets undertake tasks such as foraging for food, building and maintaining the nest, and caring for the larvae. This division of labor allows the queen to focus exclusively on reproduction, sometimes laying up to 400 eggs daily. The queen also influences worker behavior through pheromones, which regulate the colony’s social organization and keep workers sterile.
From Founding to Succession
The life cycle of a hornet colony begins with a single queen emerging from hibernation in the spring. She typically spent the winter months in a sheltered location, such as leaf litter or a tree cavity, after mating in the previous autumn. Upon awakening, she searches for a suitable, often secluded, spot to begin a new nest, which could be in a hollow tree, an attic, or even underground.
Initially, the queen works alone, building a small nest from chewed wood pulp and laying her first eggs. She feeds the hatched larvae a protein-rich diet of insects until they mature into worker hornets. Once these workers emerge, they take over nest expansion, foraging, and caring for subsequent broods, allowing the queen to concentrate on egg-laying.
As summer progresses, the colony grows, and by late summer or early autumn, the queen begins to produce reproductive individuals: males and new queens. These new queens and males leave the nest to mate, with the males dying shortly after. Newly fertilized queens then seek out hibernation sites to overwinter, ready to establish new colonies the following spring, while the old queen and the remaining workers perish with colder weather.
Identifying the Queen Hornet
Distinguishing a queen hornet involves observing physical characteristics, with size being the most apparent indicator. Queen hornets are generally larger than workers and males, often noticeably longer. For instance, a European hornet queen can measure up to 1.7 inches in length, while workers are smaller.
Beyond size, a more robust abdomen might be present in the queen due to her reproductive role. While color patterns are similar across females, queens may have a slightly different overall appearance due to their larger size. Behavior also offers clues, as a hornet seen flying alone in early spring is likely a queen searching for a nesting site. During the peak season, the queen typically remains inside the nest, making her less visible than the foraging workers.