Amongst the thousands of bee's in each colony one holds a special place in the hive, the Queen. As the only female in her hive capable of mating, her primary job is laying eggs deep into the bottom of honeycomb cells. Fertilized eggs develop into workers who will support the colony. While unfertilized eggs develop into drone honey bees (males). Another important function of the Queen is to produce pheromones that promote stability in the hive. Colony life continues with each hive member doing their tasks because they know a Queen is present.
In this picture you will see the queen is marked with a blue dot. We have a specialised team of beekeepers that rear Queen bee's. The queen is then marked with a colour that corresponds to the year she was produced. As the Queen gets older she lays less and less. Old queens are replaced with new strong queens to help keep the hives strong and thriving.
Photo courtesy of our amazing Queen Rearing team leader Vincent 📸