Some Lesser-Known Facts About The Queen Bee

Some Lesser-Known Facts About The Queen Bee The queen bee is the soul of the beehive. She is not only unique but also vital in order to maintain the population of the hive. Although egg laying is her main function, here are some unknown facts about the queen bee: 1. Queen bees are no rules As the name suggests, it is assumed that the queen bee of a hive manages it like a monarch would by ordering the other bees around. It is not so. While she does have a certain influence over the behaviors of the workers bees, the beehive is very close to a democratic system. Most of the daily tasks and functions of the hive are controlled and managed by pheromones and other chemical signals which appear to happen instinctively. Whenever a conscious decision has to be made such as the swarm’s choice of nesting site, the decision is based on voting amongst the worker bees.

2. Queens have sex only once in their life Most of the insects live short lives but you will be surprised to know that a queen bee only lives two to seven years of life. Her lifespan mainly depends on the number of males she mates with. Usually, a queen mates only once in her life and stores the sperm in a special organ which she draws it from to lay eggs for the rest of her life. In the air, queens mate with as many drones as possible. Technically, she has sex multiple times over the course of a day or two but only mates for this one period of her life. If she ever runs out of genetic material, she cannot mate again. She will then be replaced by the beekeeper or the bees themselves.

3. Queen bees crash diet A queen bee is entirely dependent on her attendants for food. At certain times of the year, the workers actually out their queen on a diet. In the spring season, two large colonies become the means of propagating the species. This process is called swarming. More than half the colony including the queen leaves the hive and sets out to start a new colony.

4. Royal indigestion Honey bee queens for sale in Illinois are attended to by a ‘court’ of worker bees constantly. These workers work in order to feed and groom her. They also do the work of carrying her waste away. They even digest the food for her because the queen does not have the same glands that the workers use to digest their food, so her food is predigested and then fed to her. It is quite clear that without the constant care of her attendants, the queen would not be able to survive.

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