Supersedure
Definition
- 1:the act or process of superseding; especially : the replacement of an old or inferior queen bee by a young or superior queen
Description
As the queen ages her pheromone output diminishes. A queen bee that becomes old, or is diseased or failing, will be replaced by the workers in a procedure known as "supersedure".
Supersedure may be forced by a beekeeper, for example by clipping off one of the queen's middle or posterior legs. This makes her unable to properly place her eggs at the bottom of the brood cell; the workers will detect this and will then rear replacement queens. When a new queen becomes available, the workers will kill the reigning queen by "balling" her, clustering tightly around her and stinging her. Balling is often a problem for beekeepers attempting to introduce a replacement queen.
If a queen suddenly dies, the workers will flood with royal jelly several cells where a larva has just emerged. The young larva floats on the royal jelly; the worker bees then build a larger queen cell from the normal-sized worker cell, which will protrude vertically from the face of the brood comb. Emergency queens are usually smaller and less prolific, and therefore not preferred by beekeepers.[1]
