Bees are vital to our ecosystem; without them, we wouldn’t survive long. They pollinate 90% of the plants that produce the world’s produce. During your grade school years, you were probably taught how essential bees are. But did your teachers go into detail about the beehive, specifically the queen bee? How much do you know about the queen bee and her role within the hive? Little Giant Beekeepers has seven fascinating facts about the queen bee to help you have a better understanding of the beehive in your backyard. If the bees are getting out of control on your property, don’t hesitate to call our expert bee removers!
The Queen Bee Lays Up to 2,000 Eggs a Day
The queen bee is responsible for laying all the eggs in the colony. She builds up the hive herself. If she produces about 2,000 eggs a day, that amounts to an egg every 43 seconds! Luckily, procreating is her sole purpose, so she has all the time she needs. Learn more about bee reproduction and the hive’s lifecycle.
She Mates Only Once or Twice In Her Life
The queen only spends one to two days mating with as many drones as possible. She collects the sperm and stores it in an organ that she uses to lay eggs for the rest of her life. Once the queen runs out of genetic material, her time is up, and replaced by her colony.
The Queen Must Kill Her Competition
When a colony needs a new queen, more than one hatches. When the first queen hatches, she uses her stinger to kill the other unhatched bees. If two queens are born at the same time, they fight for the throne, and the survivor is crowned.
Any Fertilized Egg Can Take the Throne
A queen bee produces fertilized eggs and unfertilized ones. The fertilized ones become worker bees or queens, while the unfertilized ones become drones. The diet determines if a fertilized egg will become a queen. Queen larvae are fed special royal jelly, while worker larvae consume a diet of honey and pollen.
The Colony Can’t Survive Without the Queen
The queen bee is essential for the colony’s survival. The queen has two main purposes: to lay eggs and to produce chemical scents. These pheromones send signals to the rest of the colony. When the worker bees can no longer sense these pheromones, they know they are queenless and start creating queen cells to reproduce a new one.
The Queen’s Lifespan Can Vary
A queen bee can live up to five years, though her peak productivity is during the first two to three years. Environmental factors, disease, and genetics play a significant role in determining her lifespan. For more insights into the queen bee’s lifespan and productivity, visit this detailed guide.
The Queen’s Unique Anatomy
The queen bee is typically larger than the worker bees, with a longer abdomen and reduced wing size relative to her body. This unique anatomy helps her lay thousands of eggs but makes her less efficient at foraging or defending the hive.
Get In Touch With Little Giant Beekeepers
If you have noticed bees or wasps buzzing around your property, don’t hesitate to call our expert bee removers. We offer a variety of bee removal services.
- Bee control
- Live removals
- Full hive removal
- Bee proofing
- Africanized bee control
- Dallas yellow jacket removal
- Wasp removal in Dallas
- Protection against bumblebees and other stinging insects
We have been servicing the Dallas-Fort Worth area for over 40 years. Give us a call or send us a message, and we will be on our way. Let’s relocate the queen bee and the rest of the hive to a new location far away from people and buildings. Visit our bee removal services page for more information.
