The bee  

the bee  2  

The drones originate via parthenogenesis (the process, during which the offspring comes with unfertilized eggs), which sets the Queen. In the fertilized eggs the different feeding of larvae is determining, whether a Queen or worker grows. The cell for the future Queen is especially large and is therefore recognized by the nurse bee. She feeds the larva exclusively with jelly (Royal jelly), produced in own lining glands. So, the larva evolves into the Queen Older larvae of other bee brood receive, on the other hand, a mixture of nectar and pollen as food. The special feeding makes all the difference and causes the development of a Queen instead of a worker. Hence, a special, healing and rejuvenating effect is attributed to the" Royal jelly".

The healthy Queen continually secretes pheromones which prevent that the workers develop their femininity. If once in a while a worker lays eggs, these eggs are immediately killed by other workers or the Queen.

A young Queen, starting from six days old, flies several times in suitable, sunny weather conditions to a nuptial flight. In the course of this she couples with up to 20 drones high in the air. The drone dies in the end. In summer, also about the Solstice, the remaining drones are banished from the hive, during the so-called »drone battle«, because they are no longer needed.

A Queen mates only once in the life on the mating flight, but she is doing it with 15 to 20 different drones. The sperm, which the Queen accumulates here, is enough for her whole live, i.e. for about four years. Since the Queen carries mixed semen in itself, the descendants are of various lineages. This means that the workers are related to each other in only one quarter and exhibit slightly different behaviour. This enables the bees higher fitness and contributes to the good preservation of the bee colony.