Difference between revisions of "Identify a Queen Bee"
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A queen bee is the leader of a bee colony and the mother of most--if not all--of its worker and drone bees. A queen honeybee lives from 3 to 5 years and, in her prime, can lay up to 2,000 eggs in a day. A healthy queen is necessary to the health of the hive; when she gets old or dies, a new queen must be selected, either by the bees themselves or through artificial means. To maintain their hives, beekeepers must know how to identify a queen bee from the others and mark it once it is identified. To identify a queen bee yourself, here's what to look for. | A queen bee is the leader of a bee colony and the mother of most--if not all--of its worker and drone bees. A queen honeybee lives from 3 to 5 years and, in her prime, can lay up to 2,000 eggs in a day. A healthy queen is necessary to the health of the hive; when she gets old or dies, a new queen must be selected, either by the bees themselves or through artificial means. To maintain their hives, beekeepers must know how to identify a queen bee from the others and mark it once it is identified. To identify a queen bee yourself, here's what to look for. | ||
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== Steps == | == Steps == | ||
#Look for a bee larger than the others in the hive. The easiest way to tell the queen bee apart from other bees is by her size. Queens mated with drones are the largest bees in the hive, both longer and wider than other bees, while queens who have yet to mate, or virgin queens, are smaller than mated queens but larger than either worker bees or drones. | #Look for a bee larger than the others in the hive. The easiest way to tell the queen bee apart from other bees is by her size. Queens mated with drones are the largest bees in the hive, both longer and wider than other bees, while queens who have yet to mate, or virgin queens, are smaller than mated queens but larger than either worker bees or drones. | ||
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#Watch the way the other bees act subserviently around her. As long as the queen bee is healthy and productive, worker bees are notably deferential to her, getting out of her way when she moves forward and standing at attention facing her when she stops. | #Watch the way the other bees act subserviently around her. As long as the queen bee is healthy and productive, worker bees are notably deferential to her, getting out of her way when she moves forward and standing at attention facing her when she stops. | ||
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== Tips == | == Tips == | ||
