Bee queen and ant queen have both common characteristics and differences. Let’s get to the bottom of this issue so we can understand exactly how the queen bee is similar and how the queen ant differs from the queen bee.
Queen Bee
The queen bee is the only one in the hive. When rivals appear, she destroys them with her stinger.
Her main occupation is laying eggs to reproduce new bees. She also regulates the activity of the colony with the help of a pheromone that unites the bees.
An unfertilised queen bee becomes fertilised after the mating flight that takes place with the drones. As a result, she receives the sperm of the drones, which she uses to fertilise her eggs for the rest of her life.
The queen spends her entire life in the hive and only leaves the hive for mating or in case of swarming.
The worker bees take care of the queen: feed her, protect her, clean her, and prepare cells for her to lay eggs.
The queen’s life span is up to 5 years. If the worker bees are not satisfied with her work, they can replace her with a new queen.
The queen looks noticeably larger than all the other bees in the hive.
Ant Queen
There may be one or several ant queens in a colony, depending on the ant species. They do not compete with each other and co-exist together.
Their main occupation is laying eggs from which new ants emerge.
Like the bee queen, she also mates with the male, from whom she receives sperm for laying eggs.
The ant queen spends all her time inside the anthill, but there are species where the queen may leave the anthill to collect food. This does not occur in bees.
The life span of an ant queen is up to 12-20 years, depending on the species.
In size, the ant queen is larger than worker ants.
There is a similar behaviour to bees when swarming. At certain times, the queen ant leaves the anthill with her entourage to establish a new colony.
Ant queens have wings, just like bee queens. But after the mating flight, they drop them.
Conclusion
The bee queen has many similarities with the ant queen. They all belong to the so-called social insects that live together in large colonies.