Honey Bees

The queen is the largest bee in the hive, but she starts off as any other ordinary larva. Workers select, often. several larvae at once, to be new queens. The chosen larvae are fed royal jelly, a secretion from glands on the heads of young workers. With the special diet, the larvae develop into queens in a specially constructed queen cells - large, vertically oriented comb cells, usually located toward the outer walls of the hive.

When multiple queens emerge at the same time, the strongest will prevail by killing the weak queen or queens. When mating ensues, she mates, in flight, with approximately 13-18 drone (male) bees. During this mating, she receives several million sperm cells, which last her entire life span (from two to five years). In each hive or colony, there is only one adult, mated queen, who is the mother of the worker bees of the hive. There are exceptions to the one queen to one hive. See The Beekeeper's Handbook for more information.

Living for two to five years, a good queen of quality stock, well reared with good nutrition and well mated, can lay up to 3,000 eggs per day during the spring build-up. She lays her own weight in eggs every couple of hours and is continuously surrounded by young worker attendants, who meet her every need, such as feeding and cleaning.

The male bees, called “drones”, are characterized by eyes that are twice the size of those of worker bees and queens, and a body size greater than that of worker bees, though usually smaller than the queen bee. Their abdomen is stouter than the abdomen of workers or queen. Although heavy bodied, drones have to be able to fly fast enough to catch up with the queen in flight. Drones are stingless.

Their main function in the hive is to be ready to fertilize a receptive queen.

As winter approaches in extreme climates, like northern Minnesota, all drones are driven out of the hive. The normal life expectancy of a drone, during honey season, is about 90 days.

A worker bee is a non-reproducing female which performs certain tasks in support of a bee hive. Worker bees undergo a well defined progression of capabilities; feeding the queen and larvae, guarding the hive entrance, keeping the hive cool by fanning their wings, and of course, collecting nectar to make honey.