the queen-bee lays an egg in each one. This is the beginning of the end of her reign. The larvae that grow inside the queen cells are fed exclusively on royal jelly and in less than three weeks they develop into new queen-bees. The mother queen then wastes no time. Followed by a few thousand loyal bees she abandons the beehive in her quest for a place to install a new reign.

Task division inside the beehive

The worker-bee caste carries out every activity inside the beehive and out, with the exception of laying eggs, which is the queen's privilege. Depending on her age, each bee carries out a particular task. A few hours after hatching she starts by cleaning out cells and removing beehive waste. When she is five days old, once she has developed hyperpharyngeal glands, the bee can produce royal jelly to feed the queen-bee and the immature bees.