Queen bee: how to recognize the ruler of the hive

The queen bee is the element that arouses the most interest in every beekeeper. Whether it's a novice breeder or an expert, the birth of a queen bee is always a unique emotion.

Fulcrum of the entire hive survival system, the queen is the one who needs constant attention and frequent monitoring by both bees and breeders. In order to control the behavior of the swarm, the beekeeper in fact operates mainly on the life of the queen bees which will consequently create specific reactions from the entire family of bees.

How many queen bees are there in a hive?

The role of Queen Bee is an exclusive, important and premeditated task even before the bee was born. Therefore, being a role of great vigor and responsibility, the bees of an entire swarm entrust the task of queen bee to a single individual. The answer is therefore clear: in each hive there is only one queen bee. In fact, the world of bees admits no exceptions.

Usually bees raise multiple contending larvae for the role of ruler. When the larvae become adults, however, they immediately enter into competition. Moments after their birth, the rivals immediately clash in a deadly fight using their sting as a weapon of war.

After the fight, only the survivor can be worthy of playing such an important role and her workers will always be loyal to her. Throughout the life of a queen, worker bees will always guarantee her food, warmth and excellent health.

Recognizing the queen bee: appearance and size

If you are a novice beekeeper and would like to understand how to identify a queen bee at your farm, pay attention to some particularities.

A queen bee can be easily distinguished within a swarm of bees thanks to some aesthetic but also behavioral characteristics. It is possible to recognize a queen bee by noting the difference in its appearance and size compared to the workers. Here's how to recognize it:

• Size: a queen bee is much larger than that of any other bee. The drones (the males of the colony) are also larger but the queens are characterized by a longer and slimmer shape.
• Abdomen: the queen's abdomen is clearly different in that the end of her body tends to have a V shape. The workers' body has a more rounded end.
• Legs: usually the queen bee keeps its legs extended outwards and are much more visible than those of the workers who tend to keep them under the body. Having a view from above you can clearly see this difference.
• Sting: This is an important aspect to emphasize. The sting of the workers and that of the queen bee are completely different. The queen has a sting useful for reproduction and egg laying which is smooth and uniform. That of the workers is notched as it serves as a defense tool.
• Behavior and position: even the position of the bee can tell us if it is the queen. Usually queen bees tend to be located near the larvae, in the vicinity of the laid eggs. Furthermore, the queen could be easily distinguishable when you clearly notice a bee standing among the others doing nothing. In fact, in addition to laying eggs, queens do not take care of anything else. If you notice a steady bee or workers dodging to allow it to pass, it is definitely a queen bee.

How does a bee become Queen

If you are wondering what the growth process of a queen bee is, we will briefly explain it to you. Bees develop thanks to the eggs laid inside the cells. These hexagonal-shaped cells are built directly by bees and allow the correct development of the larvae that will come out of the eggs. Bees plan well in advance which larvae to select for the role of queen bee. The cells dedicated to the chosen ones are called real cells and are much wider and deeper than the normal cells in which other bees develop. In summary, a queen bee is predestined for this role even before its birth when the egg is laid inside a royal cell, that's where the role is assigned.

A large cell will allow the development of larger larvae that will be candidates for future queens. Obviously, the real cell alone is not enough, but on the contrary, the larvae will receive a diet that is very different from the others. The larvae present in the royal cells will have the right to "delicious" food or consisting exclusively of royal jelly. Royal jelly will allow them to grow healthier and stronger but above all to develop an efficient and functioning reproductive system. Recall that the queen bee is the only component of the whole hive capable of being fertile and able to lay eggs.

Being a queen isn't that simple though. When the royal cells give birth to adult individuals, there will only be room for a single ruler. After the clash between the various rivals, the winner able to exterminate all her contenders, will become the queen of entire swarms. The survival of a hive (about 60,000 individuals) will revolve entirely around the life of the queen bee. Without a queen, the swarm could not reproduce and would meet at its end.

The relationship with the worker bees

Queen bees form a very deep bond with their workers, who really think of everything. The queen is very jealous of all this attention, without which she would not be able to provide for herself. The world of bees is a wonderful collaboration mechanism in which, however, there is no room for errors. When a queen bee ages or is not efficient in egg production, it is immediately replaced and sent away, in some cases if her fertilization does not take place correctly, the queen can even be killed.

Queen bees for sale online

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