Why do queen bees live longer?

The hive queens develop in a stronger way, their body is different from that of the workers

Queen bees are essential elements of any hive. A healthy queen bee can survive two to five years. Worker bees don't have this longevity. Their life span spans around 60 days or less.

So how is it possible for a queen bee to survive that long? The queens are very different specimens from the rest of the swarm. Their bodies grow and develop very differently.

The cause of all this is exclusively related to food. Let's find out more on the subject.

What does a queen bee eat?

A larva destined to become queen, in a first phase, is the same as all the other larvae present in the hive. The only difference is that she will be the future ruler, it comes from an egg inserted in a royal cell .

Having clarified this, we can affirm that: the larvae present in the real cells , receive "delicious food" different from that of the other larvae. The nourishment to which we refer is that through the royal jelly .

Well, yes! Royal jelly is precisely the responsible factor that affects the development of a queen bee . The ruler of the colony will also continue to receive better food for the rest of her life, even in adulthood.

Royal jelly and development of queen bees

The queen bee is the only fertile individual in the colony . This means that, without the presence of a queen bee, the swarm would face certain death. The worker bees cannot be fertilized and, for this reason, without the replacement of bees with new individuals, the whole family would go against its end.

The royal jelly that queens eat is a gelatinous substance produced by the hypopharyngeal and maxillary glands of worker bees. This compound is made up of a mix of nutrients and numerous vitamins.

Royal jelly allows the queen bee to develop in a completely different way. In the case of queens, in fact, the body is more elongated, its physical characteristics are generally more performing.

The queen bee also develops a very efficient reproductive system, which will allow it to produce eggs for the rest of its life.

After mating, a queen bee can lay about 2,000 eggs per day !

The queen bee lives longer, but without her workers, she would not be able to provide for herself

During the course of its life, the queen bee receives sustenance and care from the worker bees. The swarm takes care of her and makes sure she is always healthy and in top shape.

Worker bees provide just for everything. They procure food for their queen bee, keep her warm and fulfill any of her needs. But be careful, not all that glitters is gold! A queen bee receives all this attention from a swarm, as it is an essential part of a family's survival.

If the queen is not efficient, or if something goes wrong during the mating, the queen will be immediately killed and replaced. In fact, it happens that during the mating phase ( nuptial flight ) the queen is not fertilized correctly.

Since the mating flight takes place only once, the queen will have no other options, and in the event of unsuccessful fertilization, the workers will eliminate her.

The queen bee is the key element of a hive. It is important to specify, however, that without her swarm to take care of her, she would not be able to survive alone even a day.

Are you a bee farmer? Discover Apicoltura Laterza

If you are a bee breeder and you are interested in buying queen bees online but also swarms, cores and packs of bees, discover Laterza beekeeping!

We are professional beekeepers and have been in this business for over 35 years. Our experience has allowed us to market only selected queen bees with an optimized genetic profile and all the best characteristics such as good productivity, docility and low tendency to swarm.

Sale of Buckfast and Ligustiche queen bees online

We take care of the production and sale of queen bees online , our bees are Buckfast and Ligustica .

Apicoltura Laterza deals with the production and cultivation of selected virgin and fertile queen bees. We have Buckfast Queen Bees and Ligustic Queen Bees of the highest quality and completely disease free.

Buy now by accessing our section: Queen Bees