Lifestyle

Beekeeper Shows What it Looks Like When a Hive Rejects a Queen

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Tony Maples Photography

 

Bees are incredible creatures, and YouTuber and beekeeper Zaur Man wants to share some of the fascinating behaviors he has seen within a hive. In a video uploaded in early September of this year, he shows viewers what bees do when they are introduced to a new queen that they do not accept as the ruler of their hive.

This angry hive does not have an active queen, but they have queen cells. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations describes a queen cell as an extra construction on the comb where a larvae is fed royal jelly. Since they were planning on using one of the queens they were actively developing, they didn’t want this unknown queen.

Fair warning: If it bothers you to watch someone touch a bunch of bees with their bare hands, this isn’t the video for you. Zaur Man is obviously very comfortable with the insects!

To follow up on the lesson of what it looks like when a hive rejects a queen, he posted a video showing the hive without queen cells. Though it may look like the same angry swarming is happening at first, the beekeeper is able to swipe the happy bees aside who are trying to feed and nurture the queen instead of attempting to destroy her.