1 Anderson, K. et al. (2018). The queen's gut refines with age: longevity phenotypes in a social insect model. Microbiome 6: 108.

      2 Baer, B. et al. (2016). Sperm use economy of honeybee (Apis mellifera) queens. Ecology and Evolution 6 (9): 2877–2885.

      3 Bee Informed Partnership (2019). Sentinel Apiary Program Final Report 2019.

      4 Collison, C. (2017). A Closer Look. https://www.beeculture.com/a‐closer‐look‐8.

      5 Farrar, C. (1947). Nosema losses in package bees as related to queen supersedure and honey yields. Journal of Economic Entomology 40: 333–338.

      6 Mangum, W. (2010). The usurpations (takeover) of established colonies by summer swarms in Virginia. American Bee Journal 150 (12): 1139–1144.

      7 Maori, E. et al. (2019). A transmissible RNA pathway in honey bees. Cell Reports 27: 1–11.

      8 Niño, E. et al. (2013). Chemical profiles of two pheromone glands are differentially regulated by distinct mating factors in honey bee queens (Apis mellifera L.). PLoS One 8 (11): e78637.

      9 Oliver, R. (2014). Queens for Pennies. http://scientificbeekeeping.com/queens‐for‐pennies.

      10 Oliver, R. (2015). Minimizing Swarming http://scientificbeekeeping.com/understanding‐colony‐buildup‐and‐decline‐part‐7b.

      11  Park, O. (1946). The queen. In: The Hive and the Honey Bee, 84. Dadant and Sons.

      12 Punnett, E. and Winston, M. (1983). Events following queen removal in colonies of European‐derived honey bee races (Apis mellifera). Insectes Sociaux 30 (4): 376–383.

      13 Rangel, J. and Seeley, T. (2008). The signals initiating the mass exodus of a honey bee swarm from its nest. Animal Behaviour 76: 1943–1952.

      14 Rangel, J. and Seeley, T. (2010). An oligarchy of nest‐site scouts triggers a honey bee swarm's departure from the hive. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 64: 979–987.

      15 Rangel, J. and Tarpy, D.R. (2016). In‐hive miticides and their effect on queen supersedure and colony growth in the honey bee (Apis mellifera). Journal of Environmental & Analytical Toxicology 6: 377. https://doi.org/10.4172/2161‐0525.1000377.

      16 Richard, F.‐J. et al. (2007). Effects of insemination quantity on honey bee queen physiology. PLoS One 2 (10): e980.

      17 Salmela, H. et al. (2015). Transfer of immunity from mother to offspring is mediated via egg‐yolk protein vitellogenin. PLoS Pathogens 11 (7): e1005015.

      18 Schneider, S. et al. (2004). Seasonal nest usurpation of European colonies by African swarms in Arizona, USA. Insectes Sociaux 51: 359–364.

      19 Simpson, J. (1955). The significance of the presence of pollen in the food of worker larvae of the honey‐bee. Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science 96 (1): 117–120.

      20 Wang, Y. et al. (2016). Comparison of the nutrient composition of royal jelly and worker jelly of honey bees (Apis mellifera). Apidologie 47: 48–56.

      21 Winston, M. (1987). The Biology of the Honey Bee. Harvard University Press.

      1 * All photographs were taken by the Author.

      2 1 For example, the way that queens are mass reared is by placing 50 transferred worker larvae to a queenless group of nurse bees that were producing only “worker” jelly. It is difficult to understand how they could immediately shift to producing a jelly made up of components unique to “royal” jelly. And there is no evidence that nurse bees intentionally feed pollen to worker larvae, it more likely being an inadvertent contaminant from their mouthparts (Simpson 1955).

      3 2 The author, unpublished; if any pollen is accidentally consumed, it passes through the gut undigested.

      4 3 Miticide residues in her developmental cell may later affect queen performance (Rangel and Tarpy 2016).

      5 4 Other than when you need to prevent a colony from replacing an instrumentally‐inseminated breeder queen.

      6 5 There is strong evolutionary pressure for a queen to eliminate genetic competition from her sisters. There wouldn't be such pressure for a daughter to eliminate her mother, or vice versa.