The Life of a Queen Honeybee.

The queen bee holds a vital role in the health and continuity of the honeybee colony. She is the mother of all the bees in the hive and the only egg-laying female in a normal, functioning colony. Unlike worker bees, her life is determined before she even hatches—by diet, hive conditions, and pheromonal signals within the colony.

How Queen Bees Are Made

A queen bee is made, not born, by the collective decision of the worker bees. Several situations can trigger the need to raise a new queen: when the current queen becomes old, weak, or dies; or when the queen’s pheromone signals become insufficient to suppress the development of new queens. Once this decision is made, the workers begin constructing special queen cells—larger, peanut-shaped structures that hang vertically from the frame.

Inside each queen cell is a fertilized egg, just like any other female bee’s beginning. The difference lies in the feeding. While all larvae are fed royal jelly for the first few days, only the developing queen continues receiving a steady diet of this protein-rich secretion throughout her larval stage. This triggers her ovaries to fully develop, and she matures into a fertile queen. A colony typically raises multiple queen cells—often between 10 to 15—as a safeguard. However, only one queen will rule.

What Does the Queen Bee Do When She First Emerges?

When a queen honeybee first emerges from her special, peanut-shaped cell, she does not immediately begin ruling the hive. Her first instinct is shaped by a powerful biological drive: survival. She is not alone—there are likely other developing queens still sealed inside their cells, or in some cases, multiple queens may emerge close together. This is a critical and dangerous moment for a queen, as there can be only one reigning queen in a healthy hive.

Immediately after emergence, the new queen begins to assert her dominance by making loud, distinct vocalisations known as "piping". This high-pitched sound is created by vibrating her wing muscles without flying and pressing her thorax against the comb. The purpose of this call is twofold: to signal her presence and to challenge any other rival queens in the hive. These sounds serve as battle cries, warning the hive and any competing queens that she is ready for combat.

Remarkably, queen bees that are still unhatched can respond to this challenge from within their cells. These yet-to-emerge rivals produce a muffled "quacking" sound—an audible back-and-forth exchange that informs the colony of an impending queen duel. Worker bees often regulate this process. In a swarming situation, they may prevent the newly emerged queen from immediately killing the others, delaying direct combat to allow for swarming preparations.

But in the absence of swarming plans, the new queen is typically allowed to roam freely and seek out the other queen cells. Using her sharp, recurved stinger—unlike the barbed stingers of worker bees—she stabs and kills her rivals before they emerge. If multiple queens are free at once, they engage in a deadly battle until only one survives. This process ensures the strongest, most dominant queen leads the colony.

This intense introduction to leadership defines the queen’s early life and is crucial for establishing her authority and ensuring the stability of the colony.

In the case of a swarm, however, the older queen usually leaves the hive with a portion of the colony to find a new home. This is nature’s way of colony reproduction. The new queen remains in the original hive to continue the legacy. If a weaker queen is forced out or loses in a battle, she may leave with a small group of workers in a “secondary swarm,” although such groups rarely survive without sufficient resources.

When a new queen emerges, the old, weak queen departs with a portion of the colony to find a new home (usually as part of a swarm or after losing dominance). This is nature’s way of colony reproduction. The new queen remains in the original hive to continue the legacy. The colony then must go through a delicate process to accept and establish the new queen. This transition is not automatic. Honeybee colonies rely on chemical cues and behavioral signals to determine whether a queen is suitable to lead.