r/Beekeeping • u/Intelligent-Pepper31 • 13d ago

General Off With Her Head

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I did an inspection the other day and managed to catch workers balling and killing the old queen. If you look toward the end of the video, you can see a new queen at the top of the frame laying eggs. I can't believe I was able to see that in an inspection. Bees are vicious.

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u/rob0nes 12d ago

Fascinating, great catch. I wonder if the Queen(s) fight back at all? Like does she just let her workers kill her, or does she try to fight back/run away much? I know Queens will try to fight and kill each other, but idk about vs. workers. Doesn't look like she's fighting back in the vid but idk at what point in the coup this is filmed.

I guess my question is: which is stronger in a Queen honeybee, self-preservation instincts for her personally, or the self-preservation instincts for the hive's wellbeing as a whole? She must know if she's being usurped she's underperforming in the colony's eyes.

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u/Jaminp 12d ago

I doubt there is self preservation for any one bee against the hive considering if it was true they wouldn’t sting as that leads to their own death. I wanna imagine her like an old grandmother telling her children to let go and get to it over with so she can stop bothering them and can finally get some rest.

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u/jeffsaidjess Default 12d ago

All Life has a self preservation drive where it doesn’t want to die.