I see a queen bee fighting with other queens near her hive. I find baby queen bees dead on the ground why?
Question by Ann: I see a queen bee fighting with other queens near her hive. I find baby queen bees dead on the ground why?
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2 Responses to I see a queen bee fighting with other queens near her hive. I find baby queen bees dead on the ground why?
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That’s the nature of a bee colony. The old queen lays eggs that are raised in special cells. The eggs are identical to those that make workers, but special chemicals are added by the workers to the cell, and to the developing larvae to produce a queen. When the first new queen becomes mature, she will destroy the other queen cells, or if there are multiple queens arising, only one will survive.
That then leaves the old and new queen in the hive. The old queen and about 1/2 of the workers will disperse away from the hive, leaving the new queen in charge.
DrJ
January 2, 2014 at 2:44 am
If it is a supersede Queen then they the workers will kill the old Queen and raise a new one, if it is a swarm cell then the workers will raise two or three Queens and they will fight and the one that survives will split with the hive. Bees dead on the ground is normal when bees die the other workers carry them outside and drop them, bees fighting is probably one of three things. 1.) Invading hive 2.) Queens fighting 3.) Workers kicking out drones. Hope this helps!
Beekeeper
January 2, 2014 at 3:00 am