What Happens If the Queen Bee Dies?
When the queen bee dies, the entire colony goes into emergency mode. Worker bees recognize her absence very quickly. The death of the queen throws the colony into turmoil. In this article, you will learn what happens when a queen bee dies and how the workers respond to her loss. The process is fascinating. But, there are several places where things can go wrong.
The role of a queen honey bee is vital to colony survival and cannot be fulfilled by the thousands of worker bees. Her ability to mate and lay fertilized eggs that become workers is critical for the future hive.
How a Colony Responds to Queen Loss
When the queen bee dies suddenly, time is of the essence. The colony may be aware of her loss within minutes and plans to replace her are in full motion within a few hours.
Workers spring into action. If suitable young brood is available, they begin the process of raising a replacement queen.
Several brood cells (containing young female larvae) will be chosen and enlarged to hold developing queens – these are now called: Queen Cells.
This emergency response gives the colony a chance to continue without interruption in the generations of worker bees needed for survival.
How Do Bees Know Their Queen Is Gone?
Honey bees rely on chemical signals and conditions inside the hive to know that all is well. When the queen dies or begins to fail, changes in these signals alert the workers that something is wrong.
Changes in Queen Pheromones
Queens produce special bee pheromones that are recognized by other members of the colony.
These “external hormones” are the chemical messengers of the hive. Every queen has her “court” of attendants – (the queen’s retinue). They stay near her as they feed and groom her with their antennae.
During the process, pheromones are passed throughout the hive.
The presence of her pheromones and those given off by developing bee brood inform the colony that all is well. Colony life is going along as it should.
When the queen dies, her pheromone levels quickly decline. The workers recognize this change and know that their colony is without a queen.
Lack of Fertilized Eggs
Another sign of queen trouble is a lack of fertilized eggs and young brood. When young and in good health, a honey bee queen is an egg-laying machine.
Depending on colony conditions, she can easily average 1,000 to 2,000 eggs per day.
She has the ability to lay fertilized eggs which become females (worker-queen) or unfertilized eggs which develop into drones or male bees.
After the queen mates with drones early in life, she has a limited supply of stored sperm. Once this is exhausted, so is her usefulness to the colony. When the ratio of worker brood to drone brood is way off – the bees know something is wrong.
Of course, a lack of eggs alone does not always mean the queen is dead. Egg laying can slow or stop for other reasons, including seasonal conditions.
My queens sometimes stop laying during extremely hot weather or nectar dearths. They begin to lay again when conditions improve.
Changes in Colony Behavior
The death of a queen bee represents a dangerous time for the honey bee colony. It is not uncommon to find the colony restless or louder than normal. You may even notice an increase in bee aggression during this time.
Many beekeepers learn to recognize a “queen-less” hive by the special sound or roar the bees make when the hive is opened.
Then, a decision is made to let the bees continue to requeen themselves (if possible) or step in and provide a new queen.
Why Queen Bees Die or Need Replacing
Individual honey bees do not live very long. A worker bee born in the warm season only lives about 6 weeks – Winter workers live longer.
A queen bee is long-lived compared to other members of the colony and may live for several years. But, there will come a time that she too will perish.
Of course, old age is not the only reason for queen loss. If her performance lags (even in a young queen), the bees may kill the queen and replace her.
Poor mating, disease or other problems can result in a queen that is unable to meet the needs of the colony.
Queen loss can also happen unexpectedly. Honey bee predators, bee robbing incidents or even accidents during a beekeeper’s hive inspection may result in the loss of a queen.
Regardless of why the queen is lost, the colony must replace her if it is to survive long-term.
How Worker Bees Raise a Replacement Queen
Raising a new queen is a race against time. The colony must have very young female larvae of the right age and enough workers to care for them during the development process.
Workers Select Young Larvae
A few very young female larvae are selected from the brood nest. Enlarging the cells to hold developing queens begins in earnest.
Only very young female larvae are suitable candidates. An adult worker bee can not be turned into a queen.
Queen Larvae Receive Special Care
These chosen bee larvae are fed a copious diet of rich brood food. The food fed to developing queen larvae consists of royal jelly and other brood food. (It takes more than just royal jelly to make a queen bee!).
Emergency Queen Cells are Built
As the larvae grow, workers enlarge their cells to accommodate the developing queens. These are known as emergency queen cells.
Queen cells always contain developing queens but the reasons a colony builds them can differ. In this case, a dead queen is an emergency – so the title fits.
A New Queen Emerges
Approximately 16 days after the eggs were laid – virgin queens begin to emerge. Usually, the first queen to emerge will kill the others still inside the cells.
There can only be one queen in the colony. Though occasionally two (often a mother-daughter pair) may co-exist for a short time. I have seen this in my apiary several times.
The New Queen Must Mate
The new virgin queen must leave the hive and mate before she can begin laying fertilized eggs. A few days after emergence, she takes one or more mating flights.
She flies to a drone congregation area where she mates with several drones in flight. The sperm collected during mating is stored in a special organ in her abdomen called the spermatheca. She will use this stored sperm to fertilize eggs for the rest of her life.
Within 3-5 days of mating, she begins to lay. Now, the cycle is complete and our bee colony has replaced their lost queen.
What If the Colony Can’t Raise a New Queen?
Emergency queen replacement works well – most of the time. But, the colony must have fertilized eggs or very young female larvae available to raise a new queen. If suitable brood is not available, they can not produce a replacement.
A colony without a queen will continue for a while. However, without new worker brood, the population begins to decline.
Due to the lack of queen pheromones, some bees may eventually become laying workers. Without a successful replacement queen or help from the beekeeper, the colony is doomed to fail.
What If You Accidentally Kill the Queen?
Most beekeepers try very hard to protect this most important bee in the hive – but things happen. A queen can be accidentally killed during hive inspections or other beekeeping tasks.
If this happens, the workers respond just as they would to any sudden queen loss. If suitable young brood is available, they begin the process of raising a replacement queen.
As the beekeeper, you are faced with the decision of whether to let the colony try to raise a new queen or requeen the colony.
There is no harm in letting them try if the colony is strong enough and has fresh eggs or very young larvae.
However, you should check the colony later to ensure their efforts were successful. If not, beekeeper intervention will be necessary.
FAQs
Honey bees can become aware of queen loss very quickly. Her pheromones are no longer being distributed throughout the colony and workers may recognize her absence within minutes. Within a few hours, plans to raise a replacement queen may already be underway.
A honey bee colony can survive without a queen for a while, but not indefinitely. Without a mated queen laying fertilized eggs, no new workers are being produced to replace aging bees. Unless the colony raises a new queen or the beekeeper provides one, the colony will eventually fail.
Yes, they do not necessarily need eggs. If very young female larvae of the proper age are present, workers can use them to raise a new queen. If the colony has neither suitable eggs nor young larvae, they can not produce a replacement queen.
A virgin queen must mate successfully to lay the fertilized eggs needed to produce worker bees. Bad weather, a lack of drones or other problems can interfere with successful mating. If the new queen fails, the colony may require help from the beekeeper.
A Final Word
When a queen honey bee dies, the colony knows that their survival is at risk. If suitable young brood is available, workers begin the remarkable process of raising a replacement queen. In most cases, this emergency response works. Any hive that is not successful in replacing the queen is in need of help from the beekeeper. It can be an opportunity to add new genetics to your apiary with a new queen.
Thank you for providing this information about Honey Bees.
Many years ago, I read a book about Honey Bees and the process the Hive will go through to make a new Queen to lay eggs to help populate the hive with worker bees.
I may have misunderstood the book, I was under the impression that a Bee larva would be placed into a honeycomb (cell) and fed royal jelly or if there are no larva available, a worker bee would be placed into a honeycomb (cell) and fed Royal Jelly and after about 11 to 13 days, the worker beer would emerge as a queen.
Is this information incorrect that a worker bee can change into a queen bee?
Thank you for your help.
John Law
Hi John, The decision for a female to develop into a queen must be made in the very early larval stages. Worker bees can never become a queen (in honey bees).
OK, I found your article.
My bee are not being aggressive. but not sure if I have larva in the colony.
I quess I need to look again and keep reading.
Your blog is an invaluable resource for a novice beekeeper and your passion for bees shines brightly! Thank you for sharing your wisdom, Charlotte.
Thank you Shannon. I don’t know it all but the bees have taught me a lot. If only I would stop making the same mistakes more than once 😉