Queen bee

The queen bee is also referred to by beekeepers as "Weisel" or "Stockmother". She is the head of a bee colony and, as the only sexually mature female, is responsible for the brood in the colony. She spends her entire bee life exclusively on royal jelly and, unlike the worker bees worker bees live for up to five years. The queen bee has an elongated abdomen, which distinguishes her from the drones and worker bees. She can lay up to 20,000 fertilized eggs a day.