Facts About Queen Bee (Beekeepers Must Know)

In the democratic honey bee colony, the queen is the prime minister of the entire colony. She is the only reproducing female in the entire colony. So, you can say she is the mother of all the bees in the colony.

So, all drones, workers, and the future queen are also born from her. Not just she is producing the colony members, but she is also the controller of the major rules of the colony. People have lots of misunderstandings about the queen bee.

Proper knowledge about her role and other facts is crucial when learning about honey bee colonies. Every beekeeper must have proper knowledge about the queen.

Identifying a queen in the colony and taking proper care of her is the key to making a strong colony. This is why during every inspection, my first priority is to look for the queen’s health.

So, let’s learn important facts and information related to the queen bee that you must know as a beekeeper or honey bee lover.

Queen Bee Look and Identification

The queen bee is totally different than other worker and drone bees in the colony. She is larger than other bees in a honey bee colony. She also looks more attractive than other bees in the colony.

How to Identify the Queen Bee in the Hive

By looking closely, you can easily identify the queen in a colony. She is larger and brighter than the workers, with a large tapered abdomen.

You can spot a queen by observing her abdomen. It is long, tapered, shiny, and extends well past her wings.

Here are identification signs to look for when spotting a queen bee.

• Large in size, approx. 18-22 mm.
• Large and splayed legs.
• Shiny, large, tapering abdomen with reduced striping and less hairy.
• Wings do not reach the end of the abdomen.

Pro tip: If you observe closely you can easily identify the queen by spotting queen’s court. This actually means multiple (Approx 8 to 22) worker bees or more specifically nurse bees facing inwards the queen bee. They constantly touching her with their antennae and mouth parts. When the queen moves they also moves in the same direction holding the circular surroundings shape.

You will find her in one of the honeycomb cells in the brood box. In a large honey bee colony, it becomes difficult to find the queen. Thus, I always mark my queen bee with the correct color code for easy identification.

If you purchase a nuc, you will find the queen comes in a cage. During nuc-to-hive transportation, you have to be extra careful about the queen.

How Big is a Queen Bee

A virgin queen bee is usually 12 to 18 mm in size. On the other hand, a mated or mature queen bee is usually 18 to 22 mm in size.

The virgin queen is a little larger than the workers and smaller than the mature queen. The exact size of the queen varies depending on its species and the colony’s strength.

Role of The Queen Bee

As I already mentioned, the queen bee is the only reproductive individual in the colony. So, she is the ancestress of the entire colony.

From laying eggs to making decisions about swarming, these tasks are performed by the queen.

There is a misconception that the queen bee divides the role of the workers. This is actually not true. The work distribution is done by the worker bees and is based on the age of the worker.

She is mainly responsible for reproduction and keeping the colony members coordinated.

Queen Bee Role in the Hive

The queen bee has the following significant roles in running a honey bee colony.

1. Laying Eggs: During mating season, the queen bee mates with drone bees through a process of nuptial flight. After returning to the hive, she lays eggs in the brood cells. In peak season, she can lay around 2000 eggs/day.
2. Release Pheromone: The queen bee releases pheromones from her body. This pheromone works as a coordinator of the entire colony. The worker can verify the queen’s status and colony health through the scent of the pheromone.
3. Producing a New Queen: When the queen becomes old, she needs to make a new queen for the future of the colony. So, she chooses several special brood cells and lays eggs in those cells. Among those cells, workers choose their future queen and take special care of her.
4. Genetics: As the queen produces the entire colony, the genetics of the future generation depend on the queen.
5. Swarming: The Queen leads the entire swarm when they swarm to a new hive. She is the decider of whether to live in the hive or not.

The Nuptial Flight: Once in a Lifetime

One queen bee mates with the drones only one short mating period in its entire lifetime. She holds the sperm of the drones in her spermatheca to lay eggs for years.

The queen bee doesn’t perform the nuptial flight immediately as soon as she emerges. The first few days, she performs a few short orientation flights to learn about her surroundings.

At the right time, she performs the actual nuptial flight by coming out of the hive, which is several minutes long, usually 15 to 25 minutes. A queen performs the nuptial flight 1 to 3 consecutive days.

If she feels that enough sperm is not stored in her spermatheca, she will perform the flight again the next day. As soon as she has enough sperm stored, she will stop the flight and will never perform the nuptial flight in her lifetime.

Usually, during each nuptial flight, the queen mates with 6 to 25 drone bees, with an average of 12 to 14.

She performs the nuptial flight in the drone congregation areas (DCA’s). 90% of the mating occurs within the 5-mile area around the beehive.

How Many Eggs Does a Queen Bee Lay Each Day

A queen bee can lay up to 2100 eggs per day. Depending on the swarm size and the strength of the queen, she can lay 1000 to 2100 eggs each day.

She regulates the population of the colony by adjusting the egg-laying rate according to the colony’s need. When the colony needs large numbers of new members, the queen lays around 1200-2100 eggs each day.

However, during overpopulation, the queen can lay only a few hundred eggs.

She decides which eggs will become drones and which will become queens or workers.

• Female (Worker or Queen): She lays fertilized diploid eggs (containing sperm).
• Male or Drones: She lays unfertilized haploid eggs.

The Queen’s Pheromone

The pheromone, or queen mandibular pheromone, is very important in the context of honey bee colony operation. Pheromone is a chemical scent released by the queen that tells a lot about the colony.

The queen mandibular pheromone scent sends several signals to the worker bees.

• It ensures the presence of the queen bee.
• It tells about the health of the queen and the colony.
• Tells the nurse bees whether the queen needs any help.
• In an emergency situation, an alarming signal is also carried by the pheromones to the workers that are foraging outside.

Note: When the queen becomes old, the intensity of the queen mandibular pheromone scent is reduced. This tells the worker that the queen is became old and she needs to be replaced.

How is a Queen Bee Born

So far, we have learned the role of the queen in the colony. Have you ever thought about how the queen bee was born?

Most of you may know the birth of the queen. But still, I am giving a straightforward overview of how the queen was born and developed.

The existing queen lays both fertilized and unfertilized eggs in brood cells. Among those cells, workers create some special cells from which they will decide their future queen.

The queen lays fertilized eggs specifically in those special brood cells prepared by the workers. So, the birth of the queen is no different from that of worker bees.

But after the queen lays eggs, the workers choose one of those brood cells as their future queen.

So, they detach that brood from other broods and take special care of her. The queen is fed royal jelly, and nurse bees provide special nursing for her.

When the new queen becomes an adult and ready to mate, either the old queen swarms away or is killed by the workers. Thus, the new queen takes over the entire reign of the colony.

Basically, for 3 purposes, a Queen is raised by the workers.

1. Requeening or Emergency: If the colony unexpectedly becomes queenless, that is, the existing queen dies, workers raise a new queen from the existing fertilized eggs.
2. Swarming: When the hive becomes overcrowded, the old queen takes a part of the colony with a combination of workers and drones and swarms away. So, a new queen is required for the existing colony members.
3. Supersedure: When the existing queen becomes weak or old.

How Long Does a Queen Bee Live

The queen of a honey bee colony can live up to 5 years. On average a queen bee has a 3 years of life span.

The lifespan of a queen honey bee depends on various factors. She can die early due to mite infection or being attacked by predators like bears.

In general, as long as she is reproductively mature, she will stay alive. She can also be killed by the workers when she is rejected by the workers.

The queen bee is the leader of the colony, but she is not the only decision-maker of the colony. If she becomes a dictator, the workers won’t tolerate her. So, they will protest against her and kill her through a process called supercedure.

Then the workers will choose a new queen from the fertilized eggs. Alternatively, the queen will be removed from the colony.

What Happens When a Queen Bee Dies

A honey bee colony can’t survive long without a queen. So, if the queen bee dies, a new queen should be made. Otherwise, the entire colony will die very soon.

Over the years, I also had to replace the existing queen or add a new queen to the queenless hive. This is to ensure my honey bee colony is always queenright and strong enough.

A honey bee colony can contain only 1 queen bee. Thus, if there is more than 1 queen present, either of the queens will kill the others.

This is why beekeepers often use a queen excluder to raise an extra queen for commercial purposes. I raise another queen when the existing queen is alive to use it as a replacement queen for a weak colony.

What Happens if You Kill a Queen Bee

For the welfare of the colony, sometimes the beekeeper needs to kill a queen bee. I also did this several times. So, if you kill a queen bee, you must requeen the queenless hive as soon as possible. So, prepare your new queen before you kill the existing queen.

However, if you accidentally kill the queen, there can be 2 consequences.

1. First, the workers will try to produce a new queen from existing larvae.
2. If they fail, you must help them by introducing a new queen to the colony.

If they don’t find a new queen within a few days, they will become aggressive. The colony will start dying slowly. As a result, you might lose the entire colony.

The absence of the queen also increases the chance of getting robbed by other colonies. So, you shouldn’t leave the colony without the presence of a queen.

My favorite method is to get a queen in a cage and introduce her to the queenless colony.

When Does the Queen Bee Leave the Hive

The queen bee leaves the hive when she gets rejected by the workers. She also swarms away with a portion of the colony when the hive becomes overpopulated.

During the swarming season, the hive may become overpopulated. So, there is a high chance that the queen will swarm away with a portion or with the entire colony.

So, you have to be extra careful during swarm season. If the hive becomes overpopulated, you have to split the hive into 2 or more hives. Otherwise, it is not surprising that the colony will abandon the hive and swarm away.

What to Do if a Queen Bee Dies or Leaves the Hive?

Whether the queen bee dies or leaves the hive, you have to introduce a new queen to the hive. So, you can do the following.

• Check whether larvae or eggs are present in the brood box or not. If they exist, workers will try to produce a new queen from the existing eggs and larvae.
• If you don’t see any eggs or larvae, you must buy a new queen and introduce her to the hive.
• You can also split the queenless hive and merge it with other hives with an existing queen.

Where to Buy a Queen Bee

If you need to purchase a queen bee for your queenless hive, first contact beekeepers in your region. Try to get a queen from their colony. Most beekeepers rear extra queens inside a beehive for selling purposes.

So, try to manage a queen from your local beekeepers. If you fail, then look for online beekeeping suppliers. You will obviously be able to purchase a queen.

Make sure to get the queen in a cage and introduce her carefully in the queenless hive.

Is it Possible to Attract A Queen Bee to a Beehive?

If you are thinking of requeening a hive by attracting a queen from other colonies, I have to say it is impossible. No queen from one colony will be attracted to any other colony.

If you are using a swarm trap to catch a swarm of bees, you can try some methods to attract the queen. Because if the queen of a nearby swarm gets attracted to the trap, the chance of catching the entire swarm becomes maximum.

So, to attract a queen to a swarm trap, make sure to make the trap attractive. Use attractive swarm lures such as lemongrass oil and other types of essential oils.

This will be attractive to the queen and the scout bees. So, your chance of getting bees in the trap will be increased this way.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Bottom Line

So far, we have reached the conclusion part about the queen bee. You can understand how important the queen bee is for the entire colony. If there is no queen, there won’t be any honey bee colony.

The strength of the colony mostly depends on the strength of the queen. Thus, beekeepers have to be extra careful about the queen of the colony.