Replies

Do they produce a replacement queen to take over the existing hive? Or does a new queen start from zero workers? they produce a replacement and the new queen takes over. sometimes the hive splits and the old queen or the new queen takes some workers and some honey and leaves. this is how the hive reproduces, it splits. its called swarming, and as a beekeeper you try and prevent it since the bees that leave take honey.

to keep the hive from swarming you can add space to the hive and/or take honey off it so the bees believe they have to keep filling the hive. when they feel cramped, they produce a new queen and swarm. another interesting thing they do, there is a group of bees at the entrance that unload the incoming bees. they sample all the bees arriving and unload the bees that have the highest quality product coming in. only that bee can then do a dance to recruit other bees to go out to that high value source, that's how the bees work a source till it gives out and how they prioritize. they only bring in three things: water, nectar (carbo) or pollen (protein). the unloading bees know what the hive needs at that point.