In order for the colony to survive, a queen bee must lay eggs–because when she does, worker bees are created. How are queen bees and worker bees different? Once mated sufficiently, the queen will remain in that hive for the rest of her life. Honeybee queens are notorious for mating with more males than possibly any other animal on earth – genetic analyses have shown up to 29 different paternal lines within one queen’s hive. She will fly high to find her mates in areas where drones congregate. Given the conditions are right, the queen bee will take off on the first of up to three mating flights. Virgin queens typically mate between 8 and 12 days after emergence, but this is highly variable depending on the weather – temperatures must be at least 69 degrees F with minimal wind.

She will live for years, rather than a month, and she may lay several hundred thousand eggs over her lifetime, rather than none. Simply because of a change in diet, her life is changed forever. Royal jelly is a secretion produced by the workers and fed to all larvae for a short time, but the queen is fed extra rations, enabling her reproductive organs to develop fully. The queen’s DNA is no different from that of her worker-bee sisters the only difference is environmental. These eggs are destined to become queen bees. Just a few eggs are laid in specially constructed queen cells. During the practice of beekeeping, the queen is often marked with a spot of paint on her back, which helps beekeepers identify the queen more quickly and easily. Beekeeping Like A Girl also notes that queens can be a range of colors and the paint on marked queens can wear off over time. She emerges from her cell soft and fuzzy and remains that way for a day or so, allowing her body to darken and harden, as all newborn bees must. The queen bee is larger than the workers. According to The Conversation, wasp and bee species with queens are called social insects, as they live together in large groups ranging from 100 to over 50,000 and work together to raise their young.Ī queen bee is slightly larger than the rest of the bees in her colony, and she can typically be first spotted by her larger abdomen. The most commonly recognized queen bee lives in a hive of honey bees, although bumblebees and even some types of wasps have queens as well. There are various types of queen bees, but it is important to know that not all bees live in a hive with a queen. The survival and success of one colony are entirely dependent on the queen, and her role within the hive is incredibly important. How are queen bees and worker bees different?Ī queen bee is known as the “mother” of all the bees in one hive and is an adult, mated female bee.

Honey bee queen