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Svenska The queen bees generally represent the mothers of all those present within the hive. The aim of this post will be to present in summary how queen bees develop, how they reproduce, how the replacement process takes place and how to trace them by marking.
Development of the queen bees: the origin starts from a larva that is selected by the worker bees. After that & eacute ;, it is fed with royal jelly to make it mature, so as to make it fertile. Unlike worker bees, queen bees are sexually mature. With reference to the development of the queen bees, we limit ourselves to saying that just before the exit from the royal cell, a screech is heard which acts as a signal for the other worker bees. Before swarming (reproduction of bee families), worker bees can separate queens in order to have more of them inside the hive. Without the intervention of the former, the young queen bees can kill those that are still inside the royal cells.
Reproduction of queen bees: in principle, the surviving queen bee manages to mate with between 12 and 15 drones outside the hive. The sperm of the drones is accumulated inside the spermatheca of the queen bee. Fertilization takes place when the egg is approached to the exit, coming into contact with the spermatozoon. From this stage the genetic characteristics of the drone are transmitted by inheritance. The whole cycle is; known as the nuptial flight.
An important difference in understanding the reproduction of queen bees lies in the fact that if the egg is not; having been fertilized, a drone is born that has only the characteristics of the mother (haploid ed); from a fertilized egg, on the other hand, a bee is born that inherits the characteristics of the father and mother (diploid ed.). On the other hand, if the spermatheca of the queen bee is empty, we speak of queen fucaiola: from the eggs that will go; only drones can be born to lay down. The absence of larvae and eggs from which new queen bees can be bred therefore constitutes the end of the family.
How is the queen bee replaced? The new queen can & ograve; take place in the hive in a natural way, for age; advance of the previous queen (on average 2 years). Ditto for cases of diseases or drastic reduction of real pheromone emission. When the new queen & egrave; ready, it's up to the worker bees to kill the old queen. If the beekeeper were to introduce new queen bees into the hive, when these were not recognized, they would still be killed by curling up. Worker bees envelop unrecognized queens in a mass that causes death by suffocation. The same goes for the old queens.
Recognizing the queen bees: there & ograve; which at first glance differentiates queen bees from worker bees & egrave; the length of the abdomen. Since it is not; simple, often not even for the most popular beekeepers; experts, queens are usually marked with a colored marker or colored disks placed on the nape of the neck. If there are no problems for the bees, the beekeeper & egrave; facilitated in the recognition and if it intends to replace them.