A once-powerful ruler is sick. The virus threatens the entire kingdom. Previously loyal subjects plot to overthrow their leader. A new, more virile ruler ascends. “A healthy queen can lay as many as ...

In chess, the queen is the most valuable piece for a player. She’s capable of making any move, which also makes her the most protected after the king. In a bee colony, the queen holds the same rank.

Queen bee standing on a supersedure cell (peanut-shaped structure, center). Within the supersedure cell is a new queen bee that the workers have reared as a replacement. It sounds like the plot of a ...

LEFT: A queen bee and workers on brood comb. RIGHT: The queen bee laying an egg, surrounded by a retinue of workers. Queen bee laying an egg, surrounded by a retinue of workers. Bees are tucked into ...

When you think “bee,” you likely picture one species that lives all over the world: the honey bee. And honey bees have queens, a female who lays essentially all of the eggs for the colony. But most ...

When I want something sweet, I pull out a jar of honey made by my bee friends at Washington State University. I talked about your question with one of the insect scientists there, Rae Olsson. They ...

Connal McLean is affiliated with The Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust and The Entomological Society of New Zealand. Jennifer Jandt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive ...

During spring, when queen bumblebees first emerge from hibernation to start their nests, they work incredibly hard foraging for nectar to fuel their new colonies. But then, as soon as their first ...