The honeybee colony functions as a sophisticated superorganism, centered around the queen. She is the sole reproductive female and the foundation of the hive’s structure. Her primary function is to lay eggs, but she also acts as a chemical anchor for the entire colony. Through the continuous secretion of compounds, known as the queen signal, she coordinates the behavior of tens of thousands of worker bees. This chemical communication maintains social cohesion and regulates the physiological state of her daughters.
Immediate Recognition of Queenlessness
The moment a queen dies, the colony’s chemical stability rapidly unravels. The most immediate effect is the sudden absence of Queen Mandibular Pheromone (QMP). This multi-component signal is produced in the queen’s mandibular glands and spread throughout the hive by attendant workers. QMP is constantly passed among workers through contact and food sharing, declaring the queen’s presence. Once the source is gone, the QMP dissipates, and its concentration drops significantly within hours.
The worker bees quickly recognize this chemical void, signaling queenlessness. The ordered rhythm of the colony breaks down, and confusion sets in. Workers stop specialized tasks, such as foraging or wax production, and begin erratic movements across the comb. A distinct, high-pitched vibrational sound, referred to as “piping,” sweeps through the hive as workers communicate distress. This initial period of turmoil, lasting 24 to 72 hours, is characterized by a frantic search for the missing queen before workers initiate a replacement plan.
The Emergency Queen Rearing Process
To prevent biological collapse, worker bees initiate an emergency response to create a new queen. This process requires female larvae young enough to be converted. Only fertilized eggs or larvae three days old or younger retain the developmental plasticity needed to become a queen. Workers select several existing worker cells containing these young larvae and rapidly modify them by tearing down surrounding cells to create large, downward-hanging structures.
These modified chambers are known as emergency queen cells. The most important change is the radical alteration in the larvae’s diet. Larvae destined to become workers receive royal jelly for only the first few days before transitioning to pollen and honey. In contrast, the selected larvae in the emergency cells are fed copious amounts of royal jelly for the entirety of their development.
This sustained consumption of royal jelly activates the genetic pathways leading to a fully fertile female reproductive system. The queen’s developmental process is accelerated, taking only about 16 days from the egg stage until the new adult emerges. Since workers select multiple larvae, several virgin queens may emerge simultaneously. The first virgin queen to emerge will seek out and sting her developing sisters, or if multiple emerge, they will fight until only one survivor remains to rule the colony.
Stabilization or Collapse: The Long-Term Outcomes
Stabilization
The future of the colony hinges entirely on the success of the emergency queen rearing process, leading to two distinct long-term outcomes. If successful, the newly emerged virgin queen spends five to eight days maturing within the hive before taking her nuptial flights. During these flights, she mates with multiple drones from other colonies, storing enough sperm in her spermatheca to last her entire reproductive life.
Once successfully mated, she returns to the hive and begins laying fertilized eggs that develop into new worker bees. The colony experiences a significant population dip due to the 24-day gap in worker brood production—from the queen’s death to the emergence of the first new worker. The number of dying older workers temporarily outpaces new births, but the hive stabilizes and begins recovery once the new queen’s brood cycle is fully established.
Colony Collapse
The alternative path is colony collapse, which occurs if the emergency process fails. This failure might happen if no larvae of the correct age were available, or if the new virgin queen was lost to predation during her mating flights. After two to three weeks without a queen or young brood, the lack of pheromonal control activates the ovaries of some worker bees.
These “laying workers,” who are unmated, begin to lay unfertilized eggs in a desperate effort to propagate the colony’s genetics. Since the eggs are unfertilized, they develop only into male drones, not the female workers needed to sustain the labor force. The brood pattern becomes erratic, often with multiple eggs laid haphazardly in a single cell. Without the continuous replacement of worker bees, the existing population dwindles, leading eventually to the death of the entire colony.