Every honey bee colony has its own queen, the mother of all bees in the colony. Below her, there are thousands of worker bees(foragers & nurse bees) and male drones. They live in colonies of over 50 000 bees. Many people wonder what makes one particular female bee that special, and every single bee accepts her accession to the rank of a queen. Although she does not control the hive directly, she releases pheromones that control the behavior of worker bees and lay eggs. She spends her entire life in the hive, under the care of worker bees who feed and groom her. 

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Are queen bees born or made?

Queen bees are made and not born. They are born just like regular bee larvae from fertilized eggs. Every fertilized larva has the potential to become a queen bee. In fact, the queen and worker bees have the same genes. The diet brings the difference in the larval stage. However, the decision lies with the worker bees. The worker bees only make a queen when they sense they need one.  They choose the healthiest larvae and place them in a special chamber known as a queen cell. In the entire larvae stage, they feed with royal jelly to speed up the maturing process. She takes only 16 days to become an adult.  

What is royal jelly? 

Royal jelly, also known as bee milk, is a thick white substance secreted by young worker bees on hypo PHA larynx glands on top of their heads. It turns on the female larvae’s reproductive system turning her into a queen. Royal jelly contains proteins, fatty acids, simple sugars, trace minerals, and B vitamins. Withholding royal jelly from developing worker bees larvae make their ovaries underdeveloped.  Royal jelly is also used as a dietary supplement in humans. 

How is the life of a queen bee?

A queen bee develops in a queen cell that resembles a peanut. It is usually more significant than a drone or worker bee cell. It is fed exclusively with royal jelly in its larval stage. Once it is ready to pupate or metamorphosize into a queen, the nurse bees cap the cell she transforms inside. On the 15th day, she is already fully developed. She chews her way out with the help of workers. Once out, she will kill all her sisters. Worker bees usually raise 10 to 20 queens at a go. The first queen to emerge stings all other queens to death before they hatch.  

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Once the battling is done, she takes some days in the hive to mature before she takes a mating flight. Mating takes place in a drone congregation area where she mates with about ten drones and stocks millions of sperms, which she has used her entire life. She then heads back to the hive, where she lays eggs.  Queens can live up to 5 years but mainly 2-3 years. Her life can be cut short by disease, predation, or beekeeping error. The workers can also decide to replace her if she is unproductive. In summer, she can lay up to 2000 eggs in a day. Her ability to lay eggs decreases as she ages and her pheromones diminish. If she runs out of sperm stock, she starts to lay unfertilized eggs, resulting in drones.