Real cells: the "cradles" of the future queen bees
The cells containing royal jelly are intended only for the rulers of the hive
The queen bees are the only fertile females in the entire colony. Each hive leaves room for a single sovereign who will take care of providing for the replacement of bees and ensuring the survival of a swarm.
The queen bee is born from a fertile egg deposited in a particular cell called the royal cell , built by the workers normally along the edges of the honeycombs.
The real ones are very different from the other cells in the hive. In fact, the queen bee needs more space to develop, and it is precisely for this reason that the workers build larger "cradles" and fill them with royal jelly.
In the following article we will analyze the characteristics of real cells , how they are built and how queen bees develop.
Hexagonal and real cells: differences
Bees build their home through hexagonal cells . This choice has very specific reasons. The hexagonal shape allows bees to optimize space and resources. This means that the bees through the hexagonal cells are able to store as much honey as possible using the minimum amount of building wax. The hexagon creates a space inside that is almost circular which allows you to manage the available space very efficiently.
In addition to serving as a warehouse for food , the cells are also used by the swarm for the growth and development of larvae . The queen bee lays about 2,000 eggs a day inside the cells. From these new workers or drones will then be born.
Male bees or drones are born from unfertilized eggs, while female bees are born from fertilized eggs.
In the case of the queen bee, it comes to life from a fertilized egg placed in a royal cell and not in a hexagonal cell. In the case of the royal cells , the workers begin by building a sketch or dome, having the shape of a cup which, when elongated, takes on the appearance of an acorn open downwards.
This cell has larger dimensions precisely because the larva inside it will develop differently from the others until it reaches an adult form with very specific characteristics. Queen bees are fed only royal jelly and not honey. In this way, they reach a larger body and develop a reproductive system capable of being fertilized.
In fact, other female bees cannot mate. Only the queen has this privilege and mates with all the drones in the hive.
Larvae development and nutrition
Each larva present in the hexagonal cells receives royal jelly for the first three days and is subsequently fed with honey. The larvae present in the royal cells, on the other hand, receive delicious food (royal jelly) for their entire development cycle and also during the adult phase for the rest of their life.
Role of the queen bee
The queen is referred to as the "mother of all bees". As we have already said, each hive has room for only one queen bee. Despite this, it may happen that before the swarm, the worker bees build more than one real cell.
In the event that more queens are born, there will be a physical fight in which the winner kills all of her rivals through the sting. Only the strongest will have the right to be the ruler of the colony .
In the event that a queen is born earlier than the others, she will take care of destroying all the other larvae present in the royal cells, even before they are born.
In the first few hours after birth, the queen is completely ignored by the other bees. In the following days, however, their interest in the queen increases and they begin to give her small blows with the head or legs or dragging her by the wings.
This happens in the mating phase, in which the swarm entices the queen to leave the hive to make the " nuptial flight " which will allow her to be fertilized by the drones and produce eggs for the rest. of his life.
At the final stage, when (after years) the queen is no longer efficient at producing eggs, the queen is replaced. During this phase (called swarming ), the queen bee will permanently leave the hive and, with her, a part of the workers will also leave. The latter will provide for her sustenance until her last days.
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