A-Z ANIMALS - In chess, the queen is the most valuable piece for a player. She’s capable of making any move, which also makes her the most protected after the king. In a bee colony, the queen holds the same rank. She plays the role of a worker bee, mother, and a leader. Without her, there is no hive, no honey, and no future generations. It was previously thought that queen bees took no breaks to ensure the survival of the species, but a new study is challenging that notion. Instead, scientists now believe it’s the opposite, and that queen bees take breaks so that they survive.
Bumblebee Queens Are the Center of Everything
The University of California, Riverside, has revealed in a new study that bumblebee queens are less active than previously thought. After overwintering, bumblebee queens lay the first brood of eggs. This follows a natural cycle as the queen builds her colony. Bees hatching in early spring become worker bees, which are the foundation for the colony. In midsummer, the queen lays more eggs, which eventually develop into new queens, called gynes, and drone bees. These flee the nest in the fall to mate and begin overwintering.