Several Queen cells on a brood frame
The queen is the most important member of the colony and can be recognized by her long pointed body. When she hatches out she mates with several drones after which she is ready for a lifetime of laying. She will lay an unfertilised egg in the larger drone cells and a fertilised egg in worker cells. In the height of the season she may lay around 1,500 eggs per day and is attended at all times by an entourage who feed and groom her. Unlike the other bees she lives for up to four years but is usually replaced by a new queen as soon as her laying ability diminishes. Most years she leaves the hive with all the flying bees to form a new colony and it is part of the beekeepers job to prevent or reduce the chance of loosing a swarm to maintain his stock and maximize honey production.
How are Queens produced?
How are Queens produced?
When a colony decides to make new Queen a suitable worker larva is selected and its cell is built into a vertical tube about 1.5cm in length. They then float the larva on a feed of Royal jelly so that, unlike worker larvae, it can eat to its hearts content. During the period of feeding the Queen larva increases in weight by about 3,000 times as opposed to the workers 1,500 times. After five moults the cell is sealed by the workers and the lava spins a cocoon and pupates to its adult form. The whole process takes 16 days compared to the workers 21 days and the drones 24 days. She will be mature and ready to mate by 20 days.
