What happens to the hive when the queen bee dies?
A queen bee’s reproductive capabilities ensure her colony’s success. When the queen dies, the hive will try to raise a new queen to replace her.FunctionThe queen’s main role is reproductive. She can produce more than a million eggs in her lifetime, according to Lynne Eley at the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension. Her survival therefore is crucial to the survival of the hive.New QueensWorkers raise new queens from fertilized eggs or larvae less than 3 days old, according to the Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC). Ordinarily, the hive develops new queens when it must replace the current queen or form a new colony.Emergency QueenWhen the queen dies, workers will raise an emergency queen from more mature worker larvae. Emergency queens are generally of lower quality than queens developed under normal circumstances, as the older larvae have less time to feed and grow into queens.DevelopmentSelected larvae grow in special cells and workers feed t
