My Life As a Queen Bee

Published on January 30, 2020

Just a casual action shot. I'm front and center, where I should be

Just a casual action shot. I’m front and center, where I should be

A New Queen Bee Rises

And just like that, I chewed my way out of my cell and into my beautiful, honey-comb filled home. But was I the first queen bee to leave my queen cell? I had to be the first if I wanted to enjoy my life as the new Mother of Larvae. When my mother laid my egg, I spent two weeks developing, feeding on a steady diet of delicious, nutritious royal jelly. That’s how I knew I was special. Nobody else gets a diet of royal jelly. Except for my competition, the other virgin queen bees…

I felt a strong compulsion as I emerged from my cell to find my competition in the hive and find them I did. I chewed through their cells, looked them right in the eye and…Thank heavens for my smooth stinger! I won’t get into the gory details, but I am the only queen left and The Queen I shall bee.

The Only Time I Leave the Hive

I describe myself as a hive body to anybody who asks; I just don’t like leaving the hive. It’s nice in here! I have my own team of worker bees who clean me and feed me royal jelly. No, I don’t really eat honey or pollen; that’s for the plebs. Let’s be real, I live in luxury. #blessed

After a few days of settling into my new role, I know I must leave the hive to find some quality drones. While they are somewhat useless compared to my workers and we kick our drones out of the hive come fall, I know I need them today.

I take a few of my favorite workers with me and we fly a short distance away from the hive. I believe you humans measure distance in miles. At least the humans in the United States that aren’t up on the metric system like the rest of the world. Ugh. Don’t get me started. Anyway, I fly about a mile away from home in search of some drones with nice, big eyes and a perfectly stout abdomen.

You thought I’d mate with my own drones? Please. I would never. Genetic diversity is in.

When we find some choice drones, I know I’m in the right place. I’m kind of like a turkey; people think I don’t fly. If they educated themselves they would know I use my svelte wings to get fertilized mid-air. It only takes a few days, but the drones provide me with enough sperm to lay eggs for days. #eggsfordays

With my spermatheca full, we fly back to my hive so I can get down to the reason for the season: I have eggs to lay!

A few days was more than enough time – I’m done with men.

How Many Eggs Can Your Queen Bee Lay?

Here’s my baby pic. Wasn’t I cute?

Trust me. I know I’m important. After my trip outside the hive to find some drones, I’m back and doing what I’m meant to do. Do you believe in destiny? I do and my destiny is to lay eggs.

My destiny is to create a thriving hive with thousands of worker bees and a few drones too, I guess.

I’ve been running this hive for a few weeks and I’m up to nearly 2,000 eggs a day. Can your queen bee lay that many eggs?

Okay, let’s be honest, I know I don’t really run this hive. My workers do and I don’t really make any decisions. I don’t need to. I have more important things to do.

Like laying eggs.

There is nothing more satisfying than laying an egg. Can I tell you my greatest fear? I wake up every morning (yes, bees sleep, silly) and hope I can keep laying eggs at my, frankly, incredibly impressive pace. I know if I slow down, the workers could turn on me and…replace me with another queen. DEVASTATING.

Fortunately, the weather is starting to turn colder. My workers are guarding the hive more and I saw them drag a drone outside the other day. Serves him right. I can slow down my egg production now and take a break. My workers expect it. Phew!

Getting My Hygge On

It’s chilly outside! I’m so glad I get to stay inside where it’s warm. Plus, my workers do something amazing when the temperatures drop; they form a cluster and guess who gets to be in the center of it all? That’s right. Yours, truly.

My workers flex their wing muscles and create the coziest cluster on this side of the Mississippi. And I get to stay a toasty 93°F, at least. It’s basically like I’ve taken a vacation to Florida from November through March. If you need me, I’ll be in my cluster.

In January, I might start laying a few more eggs. I haven’t decided yet. It was a good year for egg-laying this year and you know my New Year’s Resolution is to lay even more this year. I heard the last queen bee before me lasted about two years, so I plan to make this my best year yet.

*This was a creative imagining of the perspective of a queen bee. Beepods does not assume all queen bees have an attitude and neither should you. We also don’t assume bees disagree with our system of measurement, but we do know they can count to five.