After the new queen honey bee returns from a series of mating
flights to the mating nucleus hive where she emerged as an adult
a week earlier, she roams the combs for another week. Now, at
about two weeks of age, the queen begins a life of egg laying.
One queen is responsible for producing the entire population of
the colony. The success of the colony depends upon the number of
bees that she produces. The behavioral traits and many of the
health characteristics of the colony are shaped by the genes
shared by the queen and the drones she mated with. The
organization of the colony as a social unit is built around the
pheromones the queen secretes. If the beekeeper wants to control
or improve the bee stock, it is important to identify the queen.
Unless the queen is marked, there is no way to tell whether she
has been replaced through supersedure. Colonies regularly
replace their queen, often more frequently than the beekeeper
realizes. Some races of honey bees continuously build queen
cells as a survival strateg