Do Queen Bees Leave The Hive?

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The queen bee is the dominant female reproductive in the hive. Her job is to lay eggs and produce a continuous supply of future workers, drones, and sometimes queens, for the hive. 

After a young queen bee hatches, she will live in the hive for a few days. She is unmated, so she cannot lay eggs. She will go on a few mating flights and mate with up to 60 drones.

Mating Flights

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When a hive increases in population size rapidly, the bees will sometimes produce a reproductive swarm. The intention of this swarm is that it will leave with the old queen and will seek out a new hive location.

Swarming

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If there is a fire or a flood, the bees will attempt to move away from the hive. The queen will normally scurry along a branch and try to flee the catastrophe.

Emergency Swarming

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Weird and Wonderful Reasons The Queen Leaves The Hive

Sometimes, for no apparent reason, a bee will even fly out of the hive at night, never to be seen again.

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Humming

I once met an elderly man who could hum to the queen. He was an old  San man. This old man was a complete wild person. 

Sometimes we have to move beehives on a vehicle. I was once moving some bees along a dark road at night and two drunk guys jumped on the back of the vehicle to hitch a lift.

Vehicle Vibration

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ADVICE

There are probably other reasons they will leave from time to time, but suffice it to say, we have covered the main biological reasons.

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