The queen bee slowly became aware of her surroundings. It was dark. A scent lingered in the air—workers nearby. These weren’t her mother’s workers, though. They smelled strangely. Who were these? Why did they smell of an unfamiliar queen?

The last thing the young queen recalled was looking for a place to build a nest when she became trapped. After that, there was smoke, and she lost her senses. How had she been transported into this new hive? She needed to find answers and fast.

She picked herself up. Her stomach growled, and she felt too dizzy and weak to fly, but she could stand up just fine. She walked and felt cold bars with her legs and antennae. She turned back and felt more of the same. Wherever she looked, thin, cold bars prevented her from moving. Who dared trap her like this?

She called out to the workers she’d smelled earlier. Perhaps they could help—workers always do. She pressed her thorax and activated the muscles of her wings without spreading them, creating a series of short, sharp sounds.

Peep! Peep! Peep!

The sound that only queens like her could make would let the workers know that a queen was nearby. Then, they could come to feed her and get this place ready for her to start laying her eggs.

Another bee arrived. A worker bee arrived. It was smaller and more robust than the queen, its body built for labor, with strong legs for gathering pollen and a short, stocky abdomen. The queen bee approached the worker, hoping to be fed, but instead, the bee tried to bite her through the bars. The queen bee backed up, startled by such aggression. A sweet, mature scent, similar to a banana, followed the attack.

It was the alarm pheromone! Why did these workers see her as an intruder?

More workers arrived, drawn by the alarm. They swarmed the cage, trying desperately to bite and sting the queen. These bees were in a frenzy, squirming and stretching to get to her. They wanted to kill her! She had no choice but to back up against the wall, far from her kin.

She was a queen! She had the potential to lay thousands of eggs. Why were these workers trying to kill her instead of nurturing her? The queen again tried to pipe in case they hadn’t realized they were in the presence of royalty.

Peep! Peep! Peep!

The sound only seemed to enrage the workers further. They kept acting aggressively without responding to her entreaties. The queen’s instincts kicked in. She and the workers smelled differently. These workers were loyal to another queen. They saw her as an alien, as an enemy.

The queen bee piped as loud as she could, trying to determine whether this enemy queen was nearby.

Peep! Peep! Peep!

Except for the buzz of the workers trying to kill her, there was no piping sound coming from nearby. There was no other queen nearby wanting to challenge her. These workers were far from their colony and queenless. There would still be hope as long as she could persuade these workers to serve her.

What she needed most was time, and this cage gave her that. Its metal meshed cage was strong enough to keep these workers at bay. The young queen focused on her mandibular glands, which started to secrete a special pheromone. This was a considerable expenditure of her energy. Pheromones required complex amino acids and proteins, and she was starving. However, her survival depended on these chemicals, so she squeezed every ounce of energy she could toward making them.

Once she had enough, she opened the ducts in her mandible and began grooming herself. First, she used her mandibles to clean the rest of her head, carefully smoothing her antennae and face. Then, she covered a pair of her legs with the pheromone. Rubbing her legs together, she covered every joint and segment. She scattered more of the chemical from her legs to all over her body, using her legs to spread the substance across her thorax, wings, and abdomen.

The queen's scent was a delicate mix of floral and citrus notes with a hint of musk, like freshly turned soil. This was her signature, her scent, a unique blend that marked her as a queen and would mark her future hive, too.

The bees were incensed, still trying to get to her, but the queen patiently continued. She moved around as she groomed, trying to spread her scent all over the cage that wasn’t designed to keep her in but to keep everyone else out.

*

The worker bees were calmer now. The change in their behavior was subtle at first. The initial frenzy of aggression gave way to cautious movements. They were still wary of the queen, who dared not approach the cage bars for fear of being attacked. However, they had stopped attacking so desperately. Instead of pure aggression, there was now an intense curiosity.

The smell of their old queen was starting to fade, while the powerful perfume of the new queen was beginning to become familiar to them. The workers communicated through brief antennal touches and subtle shifts in their pheromone signals, discussing the presence of this lone queen in the silent language of scents.

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The queen’s perfume told the workers that she wasn’t barren. She was filled with eggs and was ready to start laying them. To a worker with no work prospects, stuck far away from their ruler, being near a young queen brimming with vitality was enticing.

However, a lifetime of loyalty cannot be easily ignored. The air was still tense as the workers moved around her, their antennae twitching uncertainly. The queen bee kept walking around the cage, signaling she was healthy and active and spreading her scent as much as she safely could.

Suddenly, a small worker bee approached the bars. Her antennae waved back and forth, not with uncertainty or aggression but with gentleness. The young worker, a little smaller than her older colleagues, could comfortably squeeze her head through the iron mesh and beckoned the queen to approach.

The queen hesitated, but her stomach was empty, and she desperately needed food. She stepped forward and observed the worker, who regarded her calmly. She approached even further until she was within reach of her mandibles. If she bit, the queen would retreat immediately, but instead, the worker pressed her mouthparts against the queen's mandibles, offering a droplet of rich, nourishing nectar.

The queen felt the weight of this moment. This wasn’t a mere act of kindness but one of allegiance. In this strange, new place where all these bees had been trying to kill her, this was the first glimmer of a hopeful future. The queen devoured the sweet meal, feeling strength returning to her body.

The worker offered a little more, and the queen accepted. As she ate droplet after droplet, the queen brushed her antennae against the worker, leaving her scent. As she ate the nectar, a soothing smell spread. It blended the queen's pheromones and nectar, the smell produced by the so-familiar task of tending to a rightful queen.

A queen had a stomach larger than one lone small worker bee could carry in one serving. Her first subject left, off to find more food for her. As she flew, she spread the queen's scent through the hive. As the kind worker bee fled, two more bees arrived. The recent smell of nectar mixed with pheromones had finally convinced them to approach.

The queen approached the two workers more confidently this time. She could sense the turning tides. One of the newcomers took position near the queen’s head, gently using her legs and mandibles to clean the delicate segments of the queen’s thorax. Despite the queen’s best efforts, some spots were too complex to reach alone. Having two other bees help was priceless.

The other bee worked on the queen’s sides, carefully removing any remnants of debris while ensuring her scent was evenly distributed. As the workers groomed her, they also became covered in her pheromones.

One more aggressive bee tried to approach with evil intent but was pushed away by the two workers grooming her. The aggressive worker moved around, confused. She had picked up a little of the queen’s scent in the short encounter.

Instead of being sent into a frenzy, the other workers stayed their distance, wary of this unfamiliar queen. A third worker arrived and offered food to the queen. As the queen interacted with these workers, she would spread her mark throughout the hive, and soon enough, no worker could resist her.

*

The queen bee had a larger group of followers now. As time passed and an increasing number of workers began carrying her scent, more joined the line to feed and groom her. Even those who were still unconvinced had relaxed. It had been a while since she’d experienced any kind of aggression or that one of her subjects had to step in to push attackers away.

A queen needed only so much grooming and feeding, so some of her unoccupied, newer subjects had turned their attention to expanding the honeycomb in preparation for her to lay eggs. The only honeycomb in this massive space was a small chunk of wax with a few intact hexagonal spaces. They could more appropriately call it the ruins of a honeycomb than a proper functional one. It was almost as if someone had torn a piece of a honeycomb and thrown it in here.

The young queen watched from the safety of her cage as they busily worked to repair the combs they could and went on to shape more wax to build more. Even though she applauded the workers' efforts, and she did want to start laying eggs, there was only one problem. How could she get down there? Just like the workers couldn’t break in, she couldn’t break out. Should she ask her newly formed posse to abandon the ruins below and build a honeycomb from scratch around her cage? It was less than ideal, but it might be her only option.

Suddenly, there was a blinding light, and a giant thing descended into the hive. The queen froze, uncertain whether to sound the alarm. She spared a glance at all the other workers. They looked calm, even happy. She decided against calling them to arms. A tentacled thing that smelled of honey gently opened the cage. Then, just as fast as it had appeared, it withdrew.

The queen waited for a few moments. A worker entered through the gate, and into the cage, and then another. Soon, she was surrounded. There was a moment of uncertainty and tension. Would they attack, or would they care for her? Workers loyal to her came to her rescue. They wormed their way through the crowd surrounding her. Emboldened by their presence, the queen piped, announcing to all bees in earshot that there was a fertile queen in this colony!

Escorted by her retinue, the queen strolled through the gate and flew down to the honeycomb. These bees’ antennae constantly touched the queen, absorbing the pheromone and spreading it further through the hive.

She met no aggression. That didn’t mean that every single worker had already accepted her, no. There was still some loyalty to her predecessor. However, she was safe to move around and reaffirm her position further, and she knew just what to do to seal the deal.

The young queen moved deliberately across the freshly expanded comb. It was time to lay her first eggs, a momentous task that would cement her role as the matriarch of this colony.

She paused over a polished cell, her antennae delicately probing its interior to ensure it was suitable for her offspring. Satisfied, she positioned herself over the cell, her abdomen curving down to deposit the tiny, pearl-white egg. With each egg she laid, her body released a subtle yet powerful blend of pheromones.

This pheromone carried a distinct message, one of fertility and dominance. As it spread through the hive, it seemed to come alive. Subjects already loyal to her buzzed with renewed energy, their movements becoming more purposeful and coordinated. Workers sitting on the fence couldn’t resist anymore. There was the smell of eggs! That meant that brood was on the way! There was foraging and building to do!

Everyone began to perform their duties with increased vigor. The queen laid more eggs, while workers carefully inspected and tended to each one, or cleaned cells in preparation for more. Others set out to produce food, anticipating the needs of the soon-to-hatch larvae.

The workers were now reminded of their roles and surrendered to the vision of the new queen: a thriving, growing colony. Her colony.