To maintain productive and healthy colonies it is important that beekeepers consider the quality of their queens. The presence of a healthy and productive queen is essential for colony survival both because of the offspring she produces and the presence of her pheromones which facilitates colony behaviour. Read this week’s blog to learn about indicators of good and poor queen quality and recommendations for when queens should be replaced within an operation.
Queen Quality
Good quality
queens are essential for strong and healthy colonies that successfully
overwinter. She is the sole reproductive female of the hive, builds the colony
population and provides essential pheromones that facilitate social coherence
of a colony. Each year in the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists
(CAPA) colony winter loss survey “poor queens” is continually reported by
beekeepers as a top reason for colony winter loss1.
Queen quality can be diminished due to a variety of factors such as age,
mating success, injury, the presence of pests and/or diseases, and miticide
exposure2. Generally, queens live one to three years2,3,
however, she is most productive laying eggs when she is less than 2 years old2.
Compared to other insects, a honey bee queen has a relatively long life2.
As a queen ages so does the likelihood of a supersedure event occurring or the
queen dying2,3. To avoid an interruption in brood production, or
having a queenless colony late in the beekeeping season, best practice is to
requeen colonies every two to three beekeeping seasons3.
Additionally, anytime a queen’s performance is questionable beekeepers should
monitor her performance and consider requeening2. If a beekeeper is
choosing to replace queens after a particular number of beekeeping seasons, it
is recommended that beekeepers mark their queens to be certain of her age.
There are several indicators that a queen is of good quality and
performing well within a colony. One indication the queen is performing well is
the overall brood pattern. Ideally, the brood should be located at the center
of the hive, and, on a single frame, food resources should form an arch over
the brood4. Additionally, beekeepers should check if the brood
pattern is solid (not “spotty”), as a spotty brood pattern may indicate a poor
performing queen, and may also be a sign of various brood diseases2.
Low bee populations can be attributed to a failing queen2. One way
to assess a bee population is both honey production and consumption, both of
which should be high with a strong colony population2. Beekeepers
should be assessing for how well the queen is mated. If there is an abnormally
high percentage of drones and drone brood compared to workers this may indicate
that the queen is not well mated and is only laying drones5. Colonies
that are prone to pests and diseases, in particular high varroa mite loads, may
have a queen with poor genetics. Beekeepers should also recognize that overtime
miticide exposure can impact the health of the queen and also the viability of
sperm stored in her spermatheca2. Excessive debris on the bottom
board can be a sign the queen has genetics associated with poor hygienic
behaviour. Finally, observe and keep records of colony behaviour. When a queen
is aging and/or failing, her pheromone production drops, leading to noticeable
changes in colony behavior, such as an overly defensive colony, and the
presence of supersedure cells if the colony has decided to requeen2.
The age of the queen has a direct impact on the colony winter
survivability. A 2007 study conducted in Turkey found that colonies with first
year queens had a 100% survivability rate, colonies with 1-year-old queens had
a 100% survivability rate, colonies with 2-year-old queens had a 60%
survivability rate, and colonies with 3-year-old queens had a 40% survivability
rate (N = 5)6. The research also found that there is a correlation
between queen age and honey production, brood production and population of adult
bees, where colonies with older queens (2-3 years old) had less honey
production and brood production and a smaller population of adult bees compared
to young queens (less than 2 years old)6.
Globally, in
addition to parasites and pathogens, failure or loss of queens has been
considered one of the most important factors leading to colony losses7.
Beekeepers should remain vigilant monitoring the performance of their queens
and intervene when required. Overall, having healthy, productive queens with
desirable genetics provides the greatest opportunity for colonies to build up
throughout the beekeeping season and successfully overwinter. For any questions
regarding queen quality and colony performance please contact a member of the
ATTTA team.
References
- Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturist. 2025. Statement on honey bee wintering losses and disease management in Canada for 2025.
- Sammataro, D., and Avitabile, A. 2021. A beekeeper’s handbook: fifth edition. Cornell University Press .
- Lee, K.V., Goblirsch, M., McDermott, E., Tarpy, D.R. and Spivak, M., 2019. Is the brood pattern within a honey bee colony a reliable indicator of queen quality?. Insects, 10(1), p.12.
- Camazine, S., 1991. Self-organizing pattern formation on the combs of honey bee colonies. Behavioral ecology and sociobiology, 28, pp.61-76.
- Pernal, S. F., and Clay, H., 2013. Honey bee diseases and pests, 3rd Edition. Canadian Association Professional Apiarists, Beaverlodge, AB, Canada 68 pp.
- Akyol, E., Yeninar, H., Korkmaz, A. and Çakmak, I., 2008. An observation study on the effects of queen age on some characteristics of honey bee colonies. Italian Journal of Animal Science, 7(1), pp.19-25.
- Amiri, E., Strand, M.K., Rueppell, O. and Tarpy, D.R., 2017. Queen quality and the impact of honey bee diseases on queen health: potential for interactions between two major threats to colony health. Insects, 8(2), p.48.
Connecting with ATTTA Specialists
If you’d like to connect with ATTTA specialists or learn more about our program, you can:
visit our website at https://www.perennia.ca/portfolio-items/honey-bees/
Email attta@perennia.ca
