The Queenbee Is One Of A Kind

I have a special spot in my heart for bumblebees. They are round and fuzzy which distinguishes them from a honey bee. So they are easier to spot and they seem to move just a bit slower as if looking for something.

In fact they are. They might be last years new queens looking for a nest in the early spring. In fact, they do not take up residence in the same spot each year so what they are seeking is a dry place out of the direct sun that is dark and not obvious to predators or humans and has excellent foraging possibilities.

The purpose is to lay her eggs and at this point, she is doing all the work herself. She collects food and protects the eggs until she has enough female worker bees to take over. Then her purpose is to keep the line of new bees coming, anywhere from 50 to 400 strong on average.

She creates smaller colonies that look like they are glued together with goo and have no pattern like a honeybee hive but the cells are made of wax. Honey and pollen is also created and stored in special cells around the nest. In spite of the chaos, they do keep it very clean including moving dead bees away from the nest.

Sometimes she seals the cells depending on how much protection is needed. And when the production is high enough to keep the nest thriving, she lays only drones and towards the autumn season, queens.

Drones mate and then die off and the length of time the nest prevails is only one season. Newly mated queens then find cover, usually underground, to live out the winter and start anew in the spring.

And, just recently, scientists have discovered queens over the winter are able to hibernate and slow their metabolism right down. Conditions where she waits could suffer ice and melting so even if she is submerged for a period, she can survive under water. It is an incredible story of survival and purpose.