subject: Amazing queen bee substances [print this page] Pheromones are essential in controlling the well-being of the colony. This queen substance makes its way around the hive like a bucket brigade. The queen's attendants pick up the scent from the queen and transfer it by contact with neighboring bees. They in turn pass the scent onto others, and so it distributes throughout the colony. So effective is this relay, that if the queen were removed from the hive, the entire colony would be aware of her loss within hours. When the workers sense the lack of a queen, they become listless, and their drive to be productive is lost. Without leadership, they nearly lose their reason for being! First they're unhappy and mope around, but then it dawns on them . . . "let's make a new queen."
