The queen plays a vital role in a bee colony. Without her reproductive role, the bee population in a colony would dwindle until there are no workers to maintain the hive. One of the ways beekeepers ensure health and vitality in their bee colonies is by maintaining young and productive queens. Workers have a life span of 6  to 8 weeks. Drones usually die after mating with the queen, and if they are lucky to survive until the end of fall, they are evicted from the colony. 

Similar Articles you may like to read –
How to Identify the Queen Bee
What Is A Queen Cup? How to grow a queen bee?
Can a queen bee hurt you? What happens if a queen bee stings you?
Do I have to buy a queen bee to start a beehive?

How much money is a queen bee worth?

The cost of a queen bee is different in different regions. And if you are planning to purchase one from certain breeding programs, you can expect to part with a higher sum of money. Breeder queens are raised and inseminated artificially with specialised semen from drones. They may even cost hundreds of dollars. For hobbyists and backyard beekeepers, they don’t require an expensive queen. A mated queen from a reputable breeder will cost you between $30-$50 on average. Such queens are mated in drone aggregation areas by 10-20 drones. The bee breeders saturate their regions with drone colonies to increase the chances of their queens being mated by drones with good qualities. These are the types of queens that many beekeepers buy. Most beekeepers prefer mated queens to virgin queens. 

Do l need to mark the queen?

Some beekeepers prefer to mark the queen for easier spotting. Though with her huge abdomen, it is reasonably easy to locate her. Queen spotting gets better with experience. Marking the queen entails placing a small dot on her thorax. Beekeepers use a specific color for a particular year to easily the year she was raised. The exercise costs between $5-$10. The mark does not harm the queen and helps you to locate her easily and quickly. 

When does a beekeeper need to purchase a queen?

The bees are usually capable of making a new once the current one is unreproductive or when he dies mysteriously. Her death can also be due to the beekeeper’s error. It is not always that bees succeed in raising a new queen. There are a lot of things that can go wrong in the process. These include poor development of the larvae, predation during her mating flight etc. If a colony fails, the beekeeper must step in. A beekeeper may also want to add some genetics in her apiary. Some bee breeders focus on producing queens with special characteristics such as high honey production, calm temperament, resistance to diseases and so on. Beekeepers also may require to purchase a new queen if the colony is super aggressive or performing poorly. 

More articles you may like to read –
Are honey bees high maintenance?
What are the easiest bees to take care of?
What is the best bee hive design?
Which is better, 8 frame or 10 frame beehive?

Why does a bee colony sometimes fail to make a queen?

A honey bee colony has a remarkable potential to raise a queen when needed. With right resources in the hive (eggs, larvae  and workers) a new queen can be produced any time. However, the required resources can be unavailable in the hive. Without fresh, fertilised eggs or young larvae, a queen cannot be made, even if there is a dire need for one. In such a scenario, the beekeeper can step in and provide a frame of fresh eggs or larvae from another colony. It takes about 29 days for a queen to be raised, mature, go for her nuptials, and start laying eggs. If a colony has been queenless for a long time, this may pose a bigger problem. There may be a notable decrease in the bee population. The beekeeper may opt to introduce a queen in a cage to hasten the process.