This blog isn’t about the resilience of people. It is more of a nature thing since I woke up today wondering how queen bees get to be queen. Are the prettiest? The biggest? Do they kill all the other females and win by default? Does she win a bee election? Marry into power? Weird, right? I know. I normally never think of stuff like that in the morning.
In fact, it is noon before I have a deep thought of any kind. I am not a morning person. I go until noon on sheer muscle memory. Coffee, read email, open websites, work on tasks, all the while nudging the teens to focus on school as I struggle to focus on anything. Around noon, I come alive and am great until well into the night. That is when I do my devotions for the day and actually become productive at my job(s).
So it was strange that I had bees on my mind this morning. Well, actually, I woke up and was making a mental list of what bills needed paid today when I realized I hadn’t paid the exterminator. (It’s okay, we only spray in the house, so there are no bees or wildlife affected.)
We are primarily after the ants. And then I thought about ants having so many workers and a queen. Then I thought about bees. This wavy thought process stirred up curiosity about queen bees since they seem to get more attention.
So you can see how I got to the subject of thinking about those queen bees. Before noon, even. Maybe everyone else knows how queen bees gain power, but I was curious enough to do some research. I never thought much about this and reasoned the queen bee sits around all day and supervises the ones making the honey.
Apparently, her rise to the throne is a little more dramatic (and a lot more ruthless) than I thought. Unlike the human world, where you might be born into royalty or land the title through a reality TV show, the path to royalty in the bee world is all about what you eat, how you develop, and—brace yourself—who survives. Although that does sound a bit like those survival TV shows…
A queen bee isn’t born a queen—she’s chosen. All honeybee eggs start out with the same potential. (That begs the question if the eggs are female and male since they start out with the same potential. Still don’t know that.) Every female bee could, in theory, become a queen. But only a few special larvae are singled out for an upgrade: instead of getting the standard worker bee diet of pollen and nectar, they’re fed an exclusive, high-protein superfood called royal jelly. Think of it as the bee equivalent of an organic, all-you-can-eat luxury buffet.
This royal jelly is no ordinary snack. It’s packed with proteins and nutrients that trigger the larva’s body to develop into a queen rather than an ordinary worker. I think I once paid a fortune for some substance to apply to my face to make me look amazing. It was called Royal Jelly Something, but it didn’t make me a queen nor did it make me look any better so I never bought it again.
Back to the bees. While her sisters chomp down on the equivalent of fast food, the future queen is feasting on a five-star meal that changes her biology forever. Once again, I can easily identify which bee I would become in this scenario. It wouldn’t be queenie.
While her worker bee siblings develop into workers—with smaller bodies, wax-producing glands, and an instinct to hustle—the queen-to-be undergoes a full transformation. She grows bigger, stronger, and—most importantly—she develops the ability to lay eggs. In the world of bees, the ability to reproduce is what separates the rulers from the ruled.
And she lives happily after.
Not exactly.
A worker bee’s life is all about collecting nectar, making honey, and keeping the hive running. But a queen? Her sole job is to keep the population booming. And she does it in record numbers—laying up to 2,000 eggs a day during peak season. (Honestly, she should have an Instagram account. With those numbers, she’d be a legend.)
You may not want the kids to read this part because things begin to get ruthless. There’s no such thing as a peaceful transition of power in the bee world. If multiple queen larvae are being raised at the same time, things are about to get spicy.
The first queen to fully develop emerges from her cell and immediately starts hunting down her rivals. If she finds unhatched queen cells, she’ll stab them to death with her stinger before they even get a chance to hatch. (Cold, right?) If another queen has already emerged, they’ll have a royal rumble, where only one will survive.
How does she maintain her position? Aside from being the only bee in the hive with reproductive superpowers, the queen also controls the entire colony using pheromones—special chemical signals that keep the hive running smoothly. These pheromones tell worker bees what jobs to do, keep the other females from developing ovaries (so there’s no sneaky competition), and even help maintain order.
She’s essentially running an entire kingdom through scent-based mind control. (Which, honestly, is kind of impressive considering I can’t even run one household without coffee, raised voices, and a good vacuum cleaner.)
This is where the Queen Bee lives happily ever after.
Not quite.
Even though she’s the reigning queen, her rule isn’t guaranteed forever. If she gets too old, slows down on egg-laying, or simply isn’t performing up to hive standards, the worker bees will stage a coup. Yep, while she was once pampered and cared for, the hive will raise a new queen and overthrow her. Some queens are straight-up evicted from the hive, while others… well, let’s just say their retirement plan isn’t exactly golden.
I have decided being a queen bee might sound glamorous, but let’s be real—it’s a lot of pressure. Sure, she gets the best food and lives longer than any other bee (up to five years, compared to a worker bee’s few weeks or months), but she’s also constantly laying eggs, defending her title, and making sure the entire hive stays in check. One wrong move, and she’s out.
Good grief! That is harsh treatment for someone who gave up her entire life to see that the other bees grew to be responsible adults contributing to the world. Oh, sorry, that was my rant I give to my kids every now and then.
So, while “queen bee” is often used to describe someone living their best, most powerful life, the reality? It’s a high-stakes, cutthroat world filled with non-stop responsibilities. Honestly, the worker bees—who just fly around, sip nectar, and dance to communicate—might have it better.
I could manage that life–-flying around, sipping nectar, making honey, and dancing to communicate.
As long as it happened after noon.
Until next time,
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