Queen bee. Queen bee: photo, breed, description

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-15 14:07

The uterus is the only female in the family capable of laying eggs. Its main distinguishing feature is the presence of reproductive organs. It is the quality of the queens that determines the productivity of the hives, and, consequently, the profitability of the apiary. There are several types of such bees. At the same time, the uterus can be removed both artificially and naturally.

Role in the family

The main indicator of the quality of the queen is the number of eggs she lays. It directly depends on this factor whether the family of bees will be strong or weak, and how much honey it will collect in the summer. Only those who lay at least 2000 eggs per day are considered good queens of the hive. When choosing a uterus, in the first place (in addition to the breed), pay attention to its size. It is believed that the more weight such a bee has, the better her ovaries are developed. Also, the length of the abdomen usually affects the productivity of the uterus. The higher this indicator, the better.

Unlikeworking individuals, the queen bee lives (its photo can be seen in the article) for a very long time - up to 5 years. However, queens are usually left in hives for no more than 2 years. The fact is that due to intensive laying, the ovaries of the uterus are very quickly depleted, as a result of which they lose much in productivity.

The queen is different from other bees

Egg laying in a hive is usually done by only one queen bee. But sometimes there are two or three. From workers, such bees differ primarily in their large weight. In this case, the wings of the uterus usually have the same dimensions as those of ordinary bees. The queen can lay eggs either fertilized or unfertilized. In the first case, workers are hatched from them, in the second - drones.

The main habitat of such bees is the hive. They leave his uterus extremely rarely - only in the spring during mating or during swarming. In the hive, the queen is always accompanied by a "retinue" - several worker bees. These individuals are exempt from collecting nectar. Their main task is to feed the uterus with milk and protect it. For food, the queen takes small breaks in laying eggs every half hour.

What are the breeds of queen bees

The most popular varieties of bees in the post-Soviet space are:

• Central Russian;
• buckfast;
• Carpathian.

Choose a specific breed should be based on the climatic indicators of this particular area. In addition, it is worth taking into account the characteristics of the variety in terms of honey collection.

Central Russianbee

Queens of this particular breed are usually chosen by beekeepers in many regions of Russia. The main advantages of the Central Russian bee are unpretentiousness, disease resistance, high productivity and resistance to low temperatures. However, when deciding to purchase just such queens for the apiary, it is worth bearing in mind that insects of this breed collect nectar only from the flowers of one particular variety. The Central Russian queen bee weighs about 210 mg.

Bees Buckfast

Families of this breed are also highly productive. They are bred mainly in Ukraine and Belarus. Buckfast queens are capable of laying just a huge number of eggs, and therefore such colonies never lack workers. It is advisable to start bees of this breed, including when the honey collections are far from the apiary. Buckfast working individuals can fly very far in search of nectar. The disadvantage of this breed is considered mainly only instability to cold weather. In the northern latitudes and even in central Russia, the breeding of the Buckfast variety is unlikely to be successful.

The uterus of this breed can weigh up to 260 mg. Despite the instability to low temperatures, Buckfast is considered the best variety of bees today.

Carpathian bees

This breed is bred mainly in Ukraine in the foothills of the Carpathians. The main distinguishing feature of such a variety as the Carpathian bee is its adaptability to a short summer and frequent rains. Frosty winters these familiesalso tolerate well. The uterus of the Carpathian bee lays eggs, including in autumn. And so in the winter, families go rather big. The weight of the uterus of this breed can reach up to 205 mg.

What are queens

Whatever variety the beekeepers breed, be it a Carpathian bee, Central Russian bee, Buckfast or any other, the queen in the hive sooner or later has to be changed. Such bees can be bred both naturally and artificially.

In the first case, the bees themselves build a special queen cell. At the same time, the usual fertilized egg is laid in the cell. In order for the queen to develop from the hatched larva, the bees feed her exclusively with royal jelly. This product contains special hormones that promote the development of the individual's reproductive organs.

Three main types of queens can be naturally bred:

Fistulous. Such individuals appear in the hive when the old queen bee suddenly dies. The photo below clearly demonstrates the procedure for the construction of queen cells by bees over several already existing combs with larvae.

• Quiet shift. Queens of this variety appear most often in hives with an old queen who is no longer able to lay many eggs. In this case, working individuals build 2-3 queen cells. The old queen lays eggs in them, and the bees fill the cells with milk. As a result, new queens are hatched.
• Swarm. Such queens come out in springqueen cells built by bees at the bottom of the frames. The new egg-laying individual remains in the hive, while the old one leaves with the swarm.

In order to quickly distinguish the queen from ordinary workers, beekeepers use a special marker for queen bees. With the help of such a tool on the queen of the hive, you can put a bright mark that does not fade in the sun.

Swarm queens and silent shift individuals are considered to be of the highest quality. Fistulous can also be quite prolific, but in terms of productivity, these two varieties are usually still slightly inferior.

No matter how the queen is hatched by the bees, immediately after leaving, she begins to look for rivals to fight with them. In the end, only one, the most powerful queen bee remains in the hive. Two queens can peacefully coexist in one family only when hatched by the silent shift method. In this case, the old individual lays eggs at the same time as the young one for some time, and then the bees kill it.

How to display

Artificially, Buckfast, Central Russian, Carpathian (and any other) queens are usually bred using this technology:

• The queen and all open brood are removed from the family. Only one comb is left in the hive with young larvae and eggs.
• To hatch individuals capable of laying eggs, it is cut from below.
• A few days later, the planted queen cells are cut out and laid out among the hives, and the old queen is returned to the family.

At once a large number of females capable of laying eggs can be obtainedmethod with transfer to bowls. This is a rather complicated technology, and it is used mainly only in large beekeeping farms. In this case, the larvae are transferred artificially to pre-made wax bowls and fed with milk. The queens obtained in this way are considered to be of the highest quality.

Drone queens

Sometimes it happens that the queen bee of the hive begins to lay only unfertilized eggs in the cells of the comb, from which drones are subsequently hatched. The reasons for the appearance of such a uterus in the family can be different:

• bad weather preventing flyby;
• damage to wings;
• Early queen appearance (before the drones hatch).

For all these reasons, the queen bee of the hive may simply remain unfertilized. Sometimes a good old uterus also becomes a drone. This happens due to the depletion of the individual's ovaries, the death of spermatozoa, or damage to the seminal receptacle. The drone uterus, of course, needs to be replaced. Otherwise, the bee colony will simply die.

Replantation

If the old queen is removed from the hive, after a while the bees will start breeding a new one. However, it is not necessary to wait for another queen to appear naturally. You can write out the uterus from a special hatchery. In this case, the new hive queen will be of guaranteed quality. The uterus is planted in the family, usually with the help of a special cell. The acquired individual is placed in it and installed in the hive. At the same time, the oldthe uterus is previously removed. Orphaned bees usually accept a new queen easily.