supercedure of honeybee queen

Honeybee queen supersedure is the process by which an old queen bee is replaced by a new queen. Supersedure will occur naturally or can be induced. Natural supersedure may be initiated due to old age of a queen or a diseased or failing queen. As the queen ages her pheromone output diminishes. Nosema disease is also implicated in queen supersedure.

The natural process starts when the bees make supersedure cells to replace a laying queen. In a beehive the location of supersedure cells differ from swarm cells. Supersedure cells rarely hang from the bottom of a frame but can be found in the center of the brood nest.

Supersedure may be forced by a beekeeper. By simply clipping off one of the middle or posterior legs from the resident queen she will be unable to properly place her eggs at the bottom of the brood cell. The worker bees will detect this and will then rear replacement queen bees. When a new queen is available the workers will kill the reigning queen. The workers form a warming ball around the queen and so kill her by overheating - this is called by beekeepers "balling the queen", and can be a problem when introducing a new queen to a hive. This overheating method is also used to kill large predatory wasps (e.g. the Asian giant hornet) that enter the hive in search of brood. Forced supersedure should only be done when drone bees are available to inseminate the new queen. The emerging virgin queen may not survive one of her several nuptual flights which may result in a queenless hive. Monitoring for a laying queen is recommended when forcing a queen supersedure.