The queen bee: role in the family

Unlike working bees, which arefemale individuals with an underdeveloped reproductive system, the queen bee can be fertilized and lay eggs. The duration of her life is about 5 years. However, the full capacity for reproduction is retained only for the first two years. In the hive the uterus is an equal member of the community, which largely depends on the action of the workers.

The queen bee can postpone two or threethousands of eggs. The strength of the family depends directly on its quality. The old individual copes worse with his duties, the young one is much better. In appearance, it is very different from working bees. Uterus several times larger, has a long abdomen, rounded at the sides. The wings cover it only half. On the legs there are no devices designed to collect pollen. The unfertile young womb looks a little different: she has a small and thin abdomen. It is distinguished by its activity and agility.

The development of the queen bee is carried out speciallybuilt up queen cell. It is an acorniform large cell. Larvae workers bees are fed with royal jelly, which is the secret of the pharyngeal glands. Such food workers bees and drones receive only the first 3 days. After that, they switch to a somewhat rougher food - a mixture of pollen and honey. Uterus receives milk during the entire larval stage of development.

The same product it begins to feed immediatelyafter she starts laying eggs. At this time, around her formed a kind of retinue from a group of young bees, wet-nurses. They clean it and take care of it in every possible way. By increasing or decreasing the diet, worker bees regulate oviposition. If the family remains for some reason without a uterus, the bees immediately begin to conclude a new one. In this case, they lay not one but several uterine cells. This is explained by some features of the swarm's life.

The young queen bee, coming out of the nest,first of all goes in search of another uterus, and when they meet, they immediately begin to "find out the relationship." In this case, the strongest wins. If the hive has uterus in the queen cells, the survivor will get them with her sting and there. However, working bees never allow anyone to be destroyed. The fact is that a young unfertilized uterus can simply fly away. In this case, the bees will have spare individuals, from which a new uterus will be removed.

Within two weeks after leaving the nestThe queen bee comes several times from the hive in order to mark its location. On the fifteenth day of her life she flies again to meet the drones. In flight, she accompanies a huge number of bees. It moves so fast that only the strongest drone can catch it. Lasting mating is usually 1-3 seconds. It occurs at a height of 5-30 m.

The uterus pairs most often not with one, but with 9-10with drones. On the third or fourth day, it becomes fetal and after that begins to lay off fertilized eggs, from which then the working bees will be released.

The fate of drones is sad enough. Couples in flight with the uterus immediately die. Those who were not so agile, in the autumn, when the family begins to lack food, worker bees from the hive are simply driven out.

Some beekeepers in the event that the familyremains without a uterus, buy a new one. Now, thanks to the Internet, it's not too difficult to do. Some of them independently practice the withdrawal of queen bees. This case is quite complicated and requires experience. The most important thing is to choose a good parent family. For this, comparisons are made in the apiary. Often it happens that under equal conditions, some families give much more honey than everyone else. They are suitable for the production of queens and drones.

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