One of the fascinating shows of group and business present in nature is the common-or-garden beehive. Bees work collectively, in unison, each to construct their home and to offer meals and assets for the entire bees dwelling in it. However, on the head of each beehive is a queen bee.
Most individuals consider the queen bee because the ruler, the real matriarch of the hive, however is that basically the case? Is she a dictator or extra of a figurehead? What precisely does a queen bee do within the hive?
A queen bee is solely liable for laying the eggs that can produce the successive generations. She additionally emits pheromones that assist inform the entire staff in regards to the well being and standing of the hive.
It’s humorous, that the queen bee, regardless of being the most important and arguably crucial in the whole hive doesn’t actually rule it.
The queen is liable for laying the eggs that can produce the entire bees that can ever inhabit the colony, and she or he has bees that attend to her each want, however her authority shouldn’t be ironclad.
Generally the employees resolve that the queen should be changed and even that she has to go! It’s actually fascinating stuff, and if you wish to be a beekeeper, these are stuff you’ll must know so hold studying.
A Younger, Virgin Queen Takes a Mating Flight
Earlier than a queen can correctly ascend to the highest of the hierarchy in a hive, she should be fertilized in order that she will be able to lay viable eggs that can produce all the brand new generations of bees for the colony.
To do that, she takes a mating flight shortly after being born and allowed to reside. Sure, allowed to reside: Younger queens will attempt to kill their rival “sisters” which might be born alongside them.
Anyway, assuming the queen survives delivery and matures she’s going to quickly go away the hive on a mating flight, followed by males known as drones.
Assuming they efficiently mate, the queen will likely be fertilized and can retailer the semen of the male and use it at her discretion to individually fertilize eggs as wanted.
Then the queen returns to the hive to take over duties from the outdated queen, both as a result of she’s too outdated or sick and has been deposed, or if she’s being despatched away to start out a brand new hive someplace else.
Fertilized Queens Lay the Eggs
So, as soon as a queen has been fertilized and is able to begin laying eggs within the hive, she’s going to settle right down to her main job…
Queens lay a whole lot of eggs, sometimes anyplace from 1,000 to 2,000 per day when she is within the prime of her life and in the most efficient time of a season. Some queen bees can lay upwards of three,000 eggs each day! That’s unimaginable.
And egg manufacturing shouldn’t be like a raging river that she has no management over: a queen can reasonable the quantity of eggs that she lays relying on the general well being and assets obtainable to the hive, the time of yr, and even the climate.
And, in fact, the age and general well being of the queen makes a giant distinction too, with older, injured or sick queens not laying fairly so many eggs and even halting altogether.
Queens Examine Particular person Cells Earlier than Laying an Egg
One of the fascinating points of a queen’s habits is the truth that she’s going to independently examine and confirm each single wax cell within the hive previous to laying an egg in it. For the reason that staff are liable for getting ready these cells, that they had higher be proper!
A queen does this by evaluating the scale of the cell in opposition to the diameter of her entrance legs. The within of the cell should be of a selected measurement, fully clear and completely clean and polished on the within.
Assuming it passes the “royal inspection” the queen will insert her stomach into the cell and deposit one, single egg.
She’s going to then transfer on to the following cell and repeat the method, over and time and again for her whole life- assuming that she will be able to nonetheless lay eggs! Some circumstances may change the queen’s ceaseless each day routine, as we are going to study.
Queens Resolve Whether or not to Lay a Employee or a Drone Egg
And one other actually exceptional truth in regards to the queen is that she will be able to resolve, on the occasion, whether or not or not she’s going to lay an egg for a employee or for a drone. The scale of the cell, constructed by the employees, informs her which one is required: smaller cells point out an egg for a employee whereas a bigger cell signifies an egg for a bigger drone.
The trick is that the queen’s eggs all come out unfertilized except she decides to intentionally fertilize them with the saved semen garnered from that preliminary mating flight described above.
If the cell is for a employee, the egg will likely be fertilized. Conversely unfertilized eggs will at all times produce male drones. Naturally, this tells us that the provision of semen a queen has to fertilize our eggs and produce staff is likewise finite!
A Queen’s Pheromones Maintain the Hive Collectively
I do know it appears like these queens in all probability do sufficient as a result of they’re, you recognize, solely liable for producing the following generations within the hive however in addition they play one other crucially vital position.
Queen bees make particular pheromones which might be principally chemical indicators telling the hive as a complete in regards to the standing and well being of the hive.
Employee bees are intently attuned to the presence and power of those pheromones and the way sturdy and plentiful, or weak and sparse, they’re will lead the employees to make selections for the great of the hive.
As an example, if the entire staff can odor the queen very strongly and always they know she is in fine condition and that the hive shouldn’t be too large or overcrowded.
Alternatively, if they’ll barely odor her, or if her pheromones are weak, they could begin to suspect that her well being is failing. This can result in an investigation of kinds and, if she’s unable to meet her royal duties, she might get killed and changed with a new queen.
Alternatively, if the employees decide the queen is wholesome, however sufficient bees can’t odor her pheromones sufficient of the time, the investigation may make them swarm, that means that a number of the bees will depart with the reigning queen to start out a brand new colony whereas a brand new queen is raised up.
However greater than this, the presence of the queen’s pheromones have a direct bodily impression on the employees, that are all females, by stopping them from sexually creating into queens themselves.
Queens are Attended by a Royal Entourage
After I mentioned that queens spend each waking second laying eggs, I meant each waking second. The queen actually doesn’t do anything! She doesn’t even feed herself. She doesn’t even go away the hive to go to the lavatory!
As an alternative, she has attendants to handle all that for her. The queen will invariably be surrounded by a bunch of employee bees that feed her, that clear up after her, and customarily take care of her whereas she goes in regards to the enterprise of laying eggs.
A Queen Really “Guidelines” with the Consent of the Employees!
If it hasn’t been made clear already, queen bees are critically vital however they aren’t actually dictators. The queen lays eggs, however she will be able to solely lay eggs within the cells which have been ready by the employees.
The queen’s pheromones are important for concord and effectivity within the hive from each day, however staff can actually elevate up a brand new queen to depose the outdated one.
Sooner or later, an outdated queen who’s both barren or sickly will likely be killed off by the employees! And it’s additionally the employees that resolve, roughly by consensus, that the colony has grown too massive and wishes to separate.
So clearly a queen shouldn’t be actually directing the actions of the hive the way in which that most individuals assume, regardless of her significance.
What Occurs if a Queen Can not Lay Eggs or Dies?
As detailed above, any queen that can’t lay any extra eggs, or isn’t laying sufficient eggs, for no matter motive, will likely be outmoded by a brand new, younger queen assuming the employees can elevate one.
Likewise, if a queen dies the employees should attempt to elevate a brand new queen from current eggs or else the whole colony is definitely doomed. This assumes, in fact, that an attentive beekeeper can’t transplant a brand new queen into the colony.
Tom has lived and labored on farms and homesteads from the Carolinas to Kentucky and past. He’s enthusiastic about serving to folks put together for robust instances by embracing existence of self-sufficiency.
