How does a bee become queen?

The honeybees , belonging insects to the genus Apis , they are an eusocial species, that is, they belong to the highest level of social organization of all animals.In the hives, inhabited by swarms , they live together castes of bees: the queen, worker bees (females) and drones (males).

But, how does a bee become queen? In this article of Animals and Pets Online we will solve this and many other doubts about the queen bee, discovering, for example, how to differentiate it from the others and how the fight between the queens occurs.We explain everything to you, keep reading!

The birth of the queen bee

Before answering this question, it is essential to know the two different situations that can generate the need for a new queen : the death of the queen bee (or master bee) or the creation of a new swarm for lack of space in the current one, which will go in search of a new hive.

We denominate swarm to a group of bees, usually on the move.Sometimes, a large group of bees leaves the colony with a queen to settle in a new hive, forming swarms of up to 20 meters.

Before the event, the hive is responsible for raising a new queen , since most species of bees would not survive without her.This phenomenon usually appears when the hive becomes too small to house all its individuals, usually in late spring and throughout the summer, when swarm activity reaches its peak.Now that you know the causes of e raising a new queen, we will discover how a bee becomes queen...

Because worker bees do not live long and the survival of a hive depends directly on the queen, When the workers suspect that they will need a new one soon, they select from 3 to 5 larvae that they will place in the so-called "real cells" , some special, large-sized cells.

These larvae will be fed only with royal jelly , which implies:

Large size , with a protruding abdomen.
A longevity markedly superior to that of other members of the same hive, standing between 3 and 5 years, unlike the workers, who usually live a maximum of 5 weeks.
The ability to lay up to 2,000 eggs a day .
Absence of the suction organ.
Different shades, arriving to reach a bronze color ado.

The fight of the queen bees

Once the larvae have been selected, the workers will take care of them scrupulously until they are born.That is when the queen bee fight takes place, which is basically how a bee becomes queen .

In this quest for queen bees there can only be one left: the strongest .It is important that the queen who survives is the most powerful, because she is the one who will transmit her genetic material at more than 2,000 larvae daily for 3 or 5 years.Once the fight to the death is over, the queen bee prepares to be fertilized by the fastest males .Thanks to this method , the hive will enjoy the birth of strong and fast specimens.

How does the queen bee reproduce?

As we have told you, the males chase the female during the "bridal flight" trying to reproduce with her, however, only the fastest males will fertilize her.full of sperm, the queen bee returns to the hive to rest for a few days, before starting with the laying of eggs that will help the growth of the hive.

Where do the bees lay eggs?

The queen, in addition to being the only bee in the colony capable of breeding and laying eggs, has the control to choose if her eggs produce males or females.But, how does it? To give birth to a female bee, the queen will deposit in a cell a fertilized egg by a sperm and, to give birth to a male, you only have to deposit an unfertilized egg.

How to identify the queen bee?

But how is the queen bee? There are some morphological details that can help us know how to recognize a queen bee :

Among all the bees, the queen is usually the largest , except for some species.
Looking at the body, we can observe in the queen a larger and more robust abdomen .
The sting of the queen bee is not serrated, which allows it to sting at will without dying.On the contrary, worker bees have a serrated sting that causes them to remain in the body of their target, inevitably causing their own death.
The extremities of the queen bee, especially the later ones, are usually remarkably large.
When traveling through the hive, the other bees usually let it pass.

Royal jelly and its importance in the queen bee

A group of workers, known as "nursemaids" are primarily responsible for larvae.They secrete royal jelly through their glandular cephalic system, located in their head.it is a whitish substance , with pearly reflections, gelatinous texture, warm lay.All larvae receive royal jelly in its development stage, but the queen is the only one that receives it completely pure, without water or pollen, throughout its life.

Studies have shown that royal jelly has the ability to modify the DNA of bees that feed on it [1] and it is by this reason that the queen bee differs from the workers.For all this, it seems important to point out that royal jelly is another factor that explains how a bee becomes queen, right?

Discover also in Animals and Pets Online what would happen if there were no bees.They are essential for the ecosystem!

If you want to read more articles similar to How does a bee become queen? , do you We recommend that you enter our Curiosities section of the animal world.

References

S.Sua, S.Albertb, S.Chena and B.Zhonga; Molecular cloning and analysis of four cDNAs from the heads of Apis cerana cerana nurse honeybees coding for major royal jelly proteins , Apidologie Volume 36, Number 3, July-September 2005, 389-401 07 July 2005.Available at: https://www.apidologie.org/articles/apido/abs/2005/03/M4084/M4084.html

Bibliography

Â «The blog of Reines d'Abeilles-Vie mort des Reines d'abeillesÂ», Achat de reines d'abeilles, â € Ž 25 novembre 2017
"Des abeilles et des hommes" documentaire suisse.

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