The Life of a Queen Bee

A queen bee's major function is to lay eggs.

A queen bee plays an important role in her hive. She is the only bee with completely developed reproductive organs and is responsible for mating and laying eggs.

Royal Jelly

Royal jelly consists of nectar or honey, digested pollen and a chemical secreted from a bee's head. This substance helps create a queen bee. The queen bee is fed royal jelly exclusively, which allows her to grow to one-and-a-half times the size of a regular bee.

Function

The queen bee's major job is to lay eggs. She can lay as many as 2,000 eggs a day.

Mating

Early in a queen bee's life, she takes at least one mating flight during which she mates with as many as 40 drone bees. She is able to store the semen from these drones and use it to lay eggs for the rest of her life.

Creating a New Queen Bee

When a queen bee dies or is no longer productive, the other bees in the hive choose a young larva and condition her to become queen. They essentially "create" a new queen bee by feeding her royal jelly

Life Span

A worker bee lives anywhere from six weeks to nine months, but a queen bee lives for three to five years.

References

• Back Yard Beekeepers Association: Honeybee Facts
• ScienceDaily.com: For Honey Bee Queens, Multiple Mating Makes Her Attractive to Workers
• Orkin: Honey Bee Queen