I wonder how a bee is chosen to be the queen??
Welcome to bee class!!! :
She is not really chosen from the other bees, she is actually "created."
What happens is that when the colony feels the need for a queen, for example if the current queen is older, injured, not laying eggs, not sending out strong pheromones; or, if the hive is overcrowded and preparing to swarm, the worker bees construct larger cells in the hive and they will raise a queen from the egg deposited in that cell by the existing queen.
Usually at about three days the egg hatches, and the nurse bees begin feeding that larvae (sometimes several) more royal jelly than the rest. These super larvae are given slightly bigger quarters, and when they chew their way out, they are virgin queens.
If the hive is preparing to swarm, the old queen will take off with part of it, leaving the unhatched virgin queen cell (or cells) in place. This group will look for a new home.
When the virgin queen(s) hatch in the remaining hive, if there are more than one they will fight it out, and the victorious one will make a mating flight after a few days, and return ready to lay fertilized eggs, all of which will become female worker bees. You can imagine the bummer if she doesnt make it back, her hive is queenless and no more bees will be born unless there is another queen cell underway. This is a really dangerous time for the hive, it is also common for robber bees to come as well, the population is down and the bees are vulnerable.
She can also withhold the sperm and lay unfertilized eggs, which will grow to be male drones, whose only job is to fly several miles from the hive and mate with another virgin queen one day.
If the queens are replacing the old queen for whatever reason, and not making a swarm, the new queens will basically locate each other by making calling to one another within the hive, and fight it out until only one remains. Then either she or the workers will kill off the old queen. Sometimes they leave her alive--there are documented hives with two queens, usually one is stronger.
The queen is the only one that can sting repeatedly, which makes sense because otherwise no one woule ever "win" the queen wars. The drones have no stinger at all, and the workers all lose their stinger when they sting, and they die.
Its really fascinating.
Its really important for the beekeeper to check the hive for signs of a healthy queen---either new eggs, or the queen herself. If she is injured, or missing, we have to make sure there is another queen ready to hatch, or get ready to get one from a friend, or buy one!
Usually they return from the mating flight, but if they dont, your hive is doomed if a new queen cannot be found or raised either artificially in a special tiny plastic cup to encourage the nurse bees to make the queen.
Everytime we find the queen in a hive it is always a big sigh of relief!
Sometimes you can hear virgin queens calling to one another, or if you buy queens from a queen rearing company, they will call to each other from their little cages in the fedex box!! Its called "piping" and its almost always A# or G#, one long toot and three short ones. Crazy!!!
) she would not have.
