The basis of a bee family is the queen bee. She is busy only with laying eggs, and around her there is a large retinue that is busy feeding her. The strength of the family depends on the productivity of the “queen”, since the speed of sowing directly affects the number of working individuals. And, therefore, the productivity of any breed of bees is directly proportional to the efficiency of the queen.
Characteristics and description
The queen bee is the real queen of the hive , because one of the key functions falls on her shoulders - reproduction . In the absence of special fertilized eggs, from which queen bees emerge, the swarm will inevitably die. The new queen emerges from an egg that was seeded by her predecessor. It is placed in a special bowl attached to the honeycomb. Further, when the larva appears, it is fed generously with bee milk, which contains nutrients and beneficial substances. Soon the larva becomes a pupa.
What does a queen bee look like?
On a note ! The queen cell is removed from the bowl , but food for the queen bee is first placed in it - the milk itself. During this time, the bowl is rebuilt by worker bees into a queen cell. On the 16th day, the queen appears - after gnawing the queen cell, she emerges as a full-fledged queen of the hive.
Lifespan
The life cycle of the uterus is 5-8 years. Fertile females actively lay eggs during the first two years, after which their productivity noticeably decreases. When the sperm supply runs out, the queen begins to lay unfertilized eggs, from which drones emerge.
Bees change the queen in advance to maintain the intensity of reproduction of offspring. In industrial production, annual replacement of queen bees is practiced. This makes insect farming more profitable. This approach is considered a reliable prevention of swarming.
What does a queen bee look like?
It is not difficult to distinguish a queen bee from worker bees; this can be done by size and shape. Its elongated body can reach sizes of 20-25 mm, and its belly , unlike ordinary individuals, extends beyond the wings. There is also a sting , however this is used for defense against other queens.
Smaller eyes. Weight is 0.025 g (or 0.02 g if the queen is infertile), although much depends on breed and age. We also note that queen bees can be:
- fruit-bearing (sown by worker bees);
- barren (they sow with drones ).
Expert opinion
Ponomarev Sergey Stepanovich
Beekeeper with 30 years of experience, Candidate of Technical Sciences
She can use the sting that the queen has many times - it will not harm her in any way and will not lead to her death.
Close-up view of queen bee
Maturation of uterine eggs
Marking the queen bee
Queen mother of the bee family
Main functions of the uterus
The queen is a key link in the functioning and existence of the hive. She is responsible for procreation, control over the bees, she not only unites them, but also calms them if they feel danger. In order to understand how important all this is, you need to know about the structure of society in the hive.
So, in a family there are male and female individuals, i.e. worker bees, drones, queen bees. Only the last one can continue the race, because the rest have an underdeveloped reproductive system. They are able to collect pollen , nectar , and build honeycombs , but cannot lay eggs. The queen, on the other hand, has a proboscis half as long, and her wax glands do not function, so she cannot do anything other than lay eggs. On average, one queen bee can lay 1,500 eggs per day.
Important ! Uterus are very slow, phlegmatic and calm. They rarely leave the hive, and then only to mate or during swarming .
Worker bees
These are females. They are almost half the size of the uterus, although the period of their development in cells lasts 21 days (the uterus is only 16 days).
Only worker bees do all the work in the hive, and they do this depending on their age.
The youngest bees, 1-3 days old, act as cleaners. They gnaw out pupae in the cells, after the bees leave them, they clean the hive and generally perform the most unskilled work, and this is because their corresponding organs are not yet sufficiently developed.
Between the ages of 3 and 13 days, bees act as nurses. By processing honey and bee bread, enriching them with appropriate enzymes, they feed the babies, queen and drones. At the age of 11 to 23 days, bees perform the work of receptionists. Their duties include accepting pollen or nectar from flying bees, enriching them with enzymes from their glands and storing them in cells. At the most mature age, 25-30 days from leaving the cell, the bees perform more responsible work to protect the nest and are called guard bees. And the most common age group of bees is the flying bee. Depending on the number of babies in the hive and the abundance of honey, the majority of bees become flying bees, or foragers. From them a “special group” is formed, which is called intelligence officers.
To simplify things, worker bees can be divided into two main groups - hive and flying. Hive bees are constantly in the hive and perform all the work in it. Sometimes, on a warm day, you can see how they “fly around” in front of the hive, turning their heads towards the entrance. A novice beekeeper should pay attention to this and not confuse such a flight with the beginning of swarming.
A flying bee performs work collecting pollen and nectar. In summer, bees live up to 50 days; in winter - up to 8 months.
Learn all about planting fruit trees in the fall. Recommendations for planting a garden from our experts. Everything about planting a garden is available at:.
Classification of queen bees
Uteruses can be of different types. And if some appear naturally, then in order to breed, for example, a quiet-shift queen, the beekeeper must make some effort.
Fistula
Such queens appear only in emergency cases - for example, if the previous queen disappeared without leaving a successor, or died. The insects, quite quickly beginning to sense the loss, make every effort to find a new queen. Due to severe anxiety, a whistling and rumble rises in the hive. In order to quickly find a new queen, the bees begin to intensively feed all the larvae with a large amount of royal milk - often they are given it for only 2 days, and then transferred to a special mixture of beebread and honey . While it is given to the uterus for all 16 days.
Due to increased feeding, dozens of new queens appear - within 20-30. Having appeared, they immediately begin to kill each other with the help of stingers until only one remains - she will have to take the vacant place.
Important ! The main disadvantage of fistulous (also called rescue) queens is their low egg production , which is why they are often replaced by swarming queens or quiet shift queens. This is explained by the fact that their development occurs in close cells (about 5 mm, while ordinary queens develop in a queen cell measuring 10 mm).
Swarmers
They are removed when the hive becomes too large and there is a need to form a new swarm . There are a number of signs by which one can determine the imminent appearance of swarming queen bees - for example, the colony is not raising larvae or not building new honeycombs. Typically, a swarm queen cell contains several cells with new queens, and therefore there can also be several swarms. After the appearance of the queen and their queen cell, the swarm leaves the colony, even if it is infertile .
A bee colony without a queen is doomed to death
The queen secretes pheromones to be recognized by bees
The queen bee is the basis of the bee family
The queen mother is slow and always surrounded by her retinue
Quiet shift
These are the most persistent, strong and best queens. They may appear if:
- the old uterus is very old or sick;
- the beekeeper provided the conditions necessary for its appearance.
First, the queen independently and quietly lays an egg in a cell specially designated for this purpose. She then continues her normal life and waits for the new queen to appear - usually this happens after 16 days. The young successor immediately kills the old queen bee and takes her place. Such queen bees are considered to be of the highest quality; they are capable of creating a very strong swarm.
Video – About the queens of the quiet shift
Popular breeds
Among the many available bee breeds, the most popular among beekeepers are:
Central Russian
It is the most common in Russia and the CIS countries. Insects of this breed are undemanding to care, easily tolerate frosts (can stay in the winter hut for up to 7 months), rarely get sick, are not prone to swarming, and are hard-working and highly productive. The only drawback is that bees collect only one type of honey, which is why they are delayed when switching to new honey plants.
Ukrainian steppe
In terms of hard work, they are comparable to Central Russian bees and have a peaceful character. Therefore, the breed is also very popular.
Carpathian
The breed got its name due to the fact that it mainly lives in the foothills of the Ukrainian Carpathians. Bees are unpretentious, survive harsh winters without problems, and are able to collect honey in rainy weather. Honey is low in sugar. Eggs are laid not only in spring and summer, but also in autumn. Therefore, during wintering the family turns out to be numerous and requires a lot of food.
Gray mountain Caucasian
Particularly common in the northern Caucasus and in the foothills. Bees leave their hives early and return late. Neither drizzling rain nor fog stops them. They are characterized by the longest tongue, which allows them to obtain nectar from flowers that are inaccessible to other breeds. Winter hardiness is not very high, which is why they are suitable only for the southern regions.
Buckfast
A characteristic feature of the breed is its very high productivity and ability to fly long distances. If the apiary is located far from the honey collection, then Buckfast will be the ideal choice. But due to the fact that insects are afraid of frost, they are suitable only for residents of Ukraine and more southern regions
Buckfast bees.
Krainskaya, or karnika
It is especially popular in European countries. It is distinguished by its increased peacefulness, resistance to frost and heat, and weak swarming. Capable of quickly collecting honey during the short alpine spring. Insects begin to fly out very early, which makes it possible to collect bribes from the first honey plants. Thanks to their long proboscis, they are able to pollinate red clover.
Nuances of queen bee development
Among the many features of the development of the uterus, it is worth highlighting the following:
- it can only appear from fertilized eggs;
- after emergence, the young queen first of all makes her first mating (after fertilization by a drone, she will be ready to lay eggs from worker bees);
- in the absence of fertilized eggs, the entire swarm dies because it cannot hatch the uterus;
- if the uterus is fistulous/swarmy, then after its appearance it also fights with competitors;
- only a fertile individual is capable of laying a fertilized egg;
- the most important period in the development of the future queen is from 7 to 16 days, when active growth and formation of the reproductive system occurs;
- despite the fact that the queen lays the egg, caring for it falls on the shoulders of ordinary bees;
- During the first few days after emergence, the queen is infertile, meaning she is unable to lay eggs .
At what age does the uterus enter the mating season?
The young female flies out for fertilization from the 10-12th day of life, at a temperature above 250C and atmospheric humidity of 60-80%. “Queen mothers” prefer to mate 1.5-2 km from the hive to avoid inbreeding. At temperatures below 190C, as well as rainy and windy weather, their flight is cancelled. Insect mating activity increases from 2-4:30 p.m.
Sources
- https://glav-dacha.ru/osnovnye-funkcii-pchelomatki-v-pchelinoy-seme/
- https://WikiParazit.ru/osy-i-pchely/matka-u-pchel.html
- https://pro-selhoz.ru/paseka/pchelinaya-matka-koroleva-ulya-kak-vyiglyadit-osobennosti-smenyi/
- https://SitePchelavodstvo.ru/rozhdenie-zhizn-i-smert-pchelinoj-matki.html
- https://mnogo-krolikov.ru/pchelovodstvo/pchelinaya-matka-ee-razvitie-i-rol-v-zhizni-pchel-v-ule.html
- https://www.proselhoz.ru/pchelovodstvo/pchelomatka
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Hatching and mating
After emerging from the egg, the queen bee can mate on the seventh day of life. To do this, she carries out her first flights (as already noted above), during which she is fertilized by drones . If the queen fails to mate after a month of flying, she becomes a tinder .
Note ! All queen bees can be fertile (lay eggs of worker bees) or bees (lay eggs of drones). Both types of eggs are extremely important for the life of the swarm.
If the conditions are good and there is enough food, then the queen lays from 1500 to 2000 eggs per day ( the egg laying will weigh about the same as the queen herself). During the season, about 150,000 are produced. Typically, during laying, the queen bee conducts a thorough examination of each cell and if any defects are found there (pollution, for example, or unevenness), then she will not lay an egg there, but will move to the next cell.
Table. Queen bee hatching schedule.
| Lifetime | What's happening |
| 7th day | Sealing the queen cell |
| 16th day | A barren individual appears |
| After 3-5 days in the hive | First flyby |
| After 7 days in the hive | Nuptial flight |
| After 2 weeks in the hive | It becomes possible to determine the quality of the queen. |
Rules for replacing the queen bee
Usually the uterus is replaced every two to three years (its lifespan is 5 years). The main reasons for replacement include aging and poor-quality sowing (a small number of eggs in the cells). If the hive is multi-body , then the queen is changed once a year, since only the strong and young are able to lay the largest number of eggs per day.
Replacing a queen bee is quite a difficult task, because the family may simply not accept someone else’s. Before planting another queen, the beekeeper must provide special conditions and select the right moment for this. For example, remove the old one and leave the colony without a queen for a while (for a maximum of a few hours, otherwise the production of fistulous queen bees will begin). And then you can introduce a new queen from another family.
About two-queen maintenance of a bee colony
Let us immediately make a reservation that two-uterus housing is a controversial issue, since in nature there is only one queen in a family. If a second one appears, the strong individual will inevitably kill the weak one. But sometimes beekeepers manage to ensure that a colony contains 2 queens, due to which the size of the family doubles or triples. And this, in turn, allows you to pump more honey into the main honey collection (up to 40 kg per family every week).
Expert opinion
Ponomarev Sergey Stepanovich
Beekeeper with 30 years of experience, Candidate of Technical Sciences
Two-queen keeping of bee colonies is advisable in the northern regions and central zone of the Russian Federation, where the honey collection period is short and ends in July.
Caring for bees in the apiary
Let's look at the pros and cons of two-queen keeping in multi-hull hives.
Advantages
- increase in honey yield;
- increased bee activity;
- increased seeding;
- reduction of feed consumption in winter (mutual heating ).
Flaws
- difficulty in preventing swarming;
- deterioration of ventilation ;
- heavy and bulky hives;
- the need to disassemble the entire structure when viewing the frames ).
Drones
Males that appear in families only in the summer, on the 24th day after laying eggs. Their lifespan is up to 3 months.
It is desirable that several thousand drones be bred in one or two of the most productive colonies before breeding begins. A significant number of them causes rivalry, and the queen mates with the strongest. In addition to fertilizing the queens, drones warm the brood when the weather is cool outside. As mentioned above, in the fall bees expel drones from their hives; but in those colonies where there is no queen or she went into winter unfertilized, the bees leave drones. Based on these signs, the beekeeper can judge the presence of a queen in the colonies.
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FAQ. Questions and answers
What is the function of the queen bee in the hive?
The main function of the queen is laying eggs. Each family has only one fertile individual. Insects carefully take care of their mother and reliably protect her. She even has her own “entourage” that provides her with royal jelly.
How to distinguish the queen from other bees?
It is not difficult to distinguish a queen bee from worker bees; this can be done by size and shape. Its elongated body can reach sizes of 20-25 mm, and its belly, unlike ordinary individuals, extends beyond the wings. There is also a sting, but it is used for protection against other queens.
What is the life expectancy of the fetal uterus?
The queen can live 5 years, but it is not practical to keep her that long for honey production. It is advisable to replace it with a new one after two years, since seeding decreases after this time.
What happens if the uterus does not fly around?
If she doesn't do this, a drone infestation will appear. And this will mean that the family is doomed to death.
Is it possible to get a fertile queen without mating with drones?
No you can not.
Place in the family
The entire life of the swarm revolves around the queen bee. Worker bees care for and feed their queen. The queen does not eat honey. She requires special food that contains a lot of proteins and lipids. Therefore, the queen bee feeds on royal jelly. There should be a single queen in the hive. If another female appears from somewhere there, then she is destroyed by the queen herself or other bees. Drones are responsible for fertilizing the queen bee.
