Have you ever wondered why the queen bee is called "queen" differently from other bees? Let's take a closer look at this special creature that ensures the continuity of the bee colony with its abilities!
When it comes to the world of bees, it's impossible not to talk about the queen bee! Because the queen bee has the privilege of being the most important member that ensures the continuity of her family and manages the colony. Moreover, in addition to her egg-laying power and abilities, the queen bee can live for a very long time compared to other members of her family.
What is a Queen Bee?
The queen bee, also known as the mother bee, is found only one per honey bee colony. The queen's sole duty is to continuously lay eggs to ensure the continuity of the colony. This bee, which makes its presence felt in the colony with the pheromones it secretes, weighs an average of 200 milligrams (mg) and can produce 2,500 eggs per day if the intra-hive and extra-hive conditions are ideal.
How Does a Queen Bee Become a Queen?
A queen bee is a female bee that is specially fed and whose development is differentiated. The formation of a queen bee in honey bee colonies occurs as follows:
-
Special Feeding (Royal Jelly):
Queen bee candidates are continuously fed with royal jelly during the larval stage, unlike other worker bees. This special feeding changes the larval body structure and hormonal development. -
Development in Queen Cells:
Larvae that will become queen bees are raised in special queen cells, which are larger than normal honeycomb cells. -
Rapid Development:
Queen larvae complete their development and emerge in a shorter time than worker bees (approximately within 16 days). -
One Queen Rule:
There is only one queen bee in a hive. The newly hatched queen eliminates other queen candidates by stinging them and becomes the sole ruler of the colony. -
Reproduction Task:
The queen bee is solely responsible for laying eggs. She makes a mating flight, mates with male bees, and can lay millions of eggs throughout her life.
Although the queen bee is genetically the same as other females, she develops as a queen only through special feeding and care.
Queen Bee Characteristics
Queen bee characteristics are defined by the physical and biological differences that distinguish her from other bees in the colony. The queen bee stands out with her long and slender body structure; her wings are shorter relative to her body, and her abdomen is noticeably longer. Her sole task is to reproduce, and she can lay up to an average of 1500 eggs per day. She also secretes pheromones that affect other bees, maintaining order in the colony. Since her stinger is smooth, she does not die after stinging and generally uses it against rival queens. The queen bee lives much longer than worker bees; her average lifespan is between 3–5 years. With these characteristics, she is the most important and central member of the colony.
The Role of the Queen Bee
The role of the queen bee is to be responsible for the reproduction and order of the colony. As the only fertile female in the hive, the queen bee ensures the continuation of the bee population by laying thousands of eggs every day. She also regulates the behavior of worker bees with the special pheromones she secretes, maintaining unity and order in the colony. The queen bee does not collect nectar, produce honey, or participate in defense; her sole task is to lay eggs and ensure the continuity of the colony. Therefore, for a bee colony, the queen is an indispensable central figure.
How is the Queen Bee Found in the Hive?
A honey bee colony naturally produces new queen bees in three situations. These three situations are: "the queen bee disappearing or dying for any reason", "the queen bee aging and her productivity decreasing", and "the swarming instinct". In technical beekeeping, the beekeeper can also kill an aging queen bee and replace her with a young and productive queen. In this way, the queen of the colony can be rejuvenated. The queen bee is the heaviest individual in the colony and has the longest abdomen. She also has a constant urge to lay eggs and calmly walks on the comb, looking for a suitable cell to lay an egg. With all these characteristics, the queen bee can be easily distinguished even among thousands of worker bees.
How is the Queen Bee Fed?
The queen bee is fed differently from worker bees starting from her larval stage. For this reason, while a worker bee lives for a maximum of six weeks and a drone for six months, a queen bee can live for up to six years. The larva to be raised as a queen bee is fed with higher quality and richer royal jelly than the larva that will become a worker bee or a drone. Royal jelly is a very valuable substance secreted by young worker bees aged five to 15 days, and it is used for feeding the brood and the queen bee. While worker and drone bees are not fed with royal jelly in their adult stages, the queen bee continues to be fed with royal jelly in her adult stage.
How Does a Queen Bee Mate?
The question of how a queen bee reproduces is very often asked. The queen bee goes on a mating flight when she is approximately one week old. Queen bee mating takes place at a height of 10 to 30 meters, absolutely in the air and while flying, with 10 to 20 male bees in the "drone congregation area." Mating can usually be achieved in a single mating flight, or sometimes in different flights on the same day or over several consecutive days.
The queen bee stores the sperm received from the male bees in her spermatheca. In this way, she maintains the ability to lay fertilized or unfertilized eggs whenever she wants throughout her life. This mating system observed in bees has unique characteristics both in preventing inbreeding and ensuring natural selection.
What is the False Queen Bee Situation?
When a colony's queen bee is lost, if there are young brood (eggs or larvae) in the colony, the worker bees raise a new queen bee from these brood. This ensures the continuity of the colony. However, if a beekeeper does not intervene in time with a queenless colony, or if the colony cannot naturally produce a new queen, some worker bees are fed royal jelly by other worker bees. In this way, the ovaries of these worker bees, which are normally inactive, develop and become suitable for egg production. These egg-laying worker bees are called false queens.
A false queen (laying worker) can only lay unfertilized eggs. From these unfertilized eggs, only male bees emerge. For this reason, the colony eventually becomes male-dominated and finally collapses. Male bees cannot collect pollen or nectar, nor can they produce brood food. Since male bees have no duties other than mating, they are in the position of ready consumers in such a colony. Therefore, after the queen production period ends, male bees are forcibly expelled from the colony by worker bees and left to die.
How Long Does a Queen Bee Live?
So, how many years does a queen bee live? As we mentioned earlier, a queen bee's lifespan can be up to six years under natural conditions. However, as the queen bee ages, her productivity, in other words, her egg-laying ability, decreases. For this reason, in technical beekeeping, the queen bee is replaced by the beekeeper every year or at most every two years. This process can also be done by the colony itself, either by swarming with the aging and less productive queen or by killing her and producing a new one.
What Happens If the Queen Bee Dies?
If a queen bee in a hive dies, the colony undergoes a major change process because the queen bee is responsible for laying eggs and directing the colony with her pheromones. Her absence can have serious consequences:
-
Pheromone Deficiency is Noticed:
Worker bees quickly realize that the special pheromones secreted by the queen have ceased. This creates an alarm situation in the hive. -
New Queen is Raised:
If there are young larvae in the hive that can develop from fertilized eggs, worker bees select a few of them and feed them with royal jelly to produce new queen bee candidates. -
Colony Weakens if No Backup Queen:
If suitable larvae cannot be found, a new queen cannot be produced. In this case, the colony ages over time, worker bees die, no new individuals are born, and the colony may collapse. -
Worker Bees May Start Laying Eggs:
In a queenless colony, some worker bees start laying eggs, but since these eggs are unfertilized, only male bees (drones) emerge. This accelerates the demise of the colony. -
Beekeeper Intervention:
In beekeeping colonies, a queenless hive can be saved by adding a new queen bee from outside.
The death of a queen bee is a vital crisis for a bee colony. However, if noticed in time, the colony can overcome this situation instinctively or with the support of a beekeeper.
What Happens If a Queen Bee Stings?
Unlike other bees, the queen bee has a smooth and reusable stinger. However, she usually uses this stinger when fighting other queen bees and is not aggressive towards humans or worker bees. Rarely, if she stings a human, the sting sensation may be similar to that of a worker bee but is generally less painful. Also, the queen bee does not die after stinging because her stinger is smooth and does not get stuck in the skin. However, in practice, a queen bee stinging a human is an extremely rare occurrence.
How Many Chromosomes Does a Queen Bee Have?
The queen bee, like worker bees, has a diploid structure and has 32 chromosomes. This means a total of 32 chromosomes, 16 from the mother (queen) and 16 from the father (drone). Female bees (worker and queen) develop from fertilized eggs and therefore have 2n=32 chromosomes, while male bees develop from unfertilized eggs and are haploid, meaning they only have 16 chromosomes (n=16). This genetic structure is of great importance for the division of labor and reproductive order in bee colonies.
Remember, we owe a lot not only to the queen bees' own colonies but also to them!
