It is a warm summer day and the beehive is alive with activity. I am working with a local honeybee expert to learn more about the art of beekeeping and this is my first solo trip. As I approach the teaching hive I can hear the soft buzz of the honeybees. It is impossible to see, for an outsider like myself, but the current queen is ill and her servants have decided her reign must end. A worker bee begins to construct a new wax cell, the start of a new generation. I spot the new cell easily as it is different from the thousands of cells that have come before it. The new cell is longer and more spacious. It is fit for royalty and I know it will soon house the new infant queen. …

This Field Note was written by Sam Getty. Would you be interested in writing one? Contact Allison De Jong, Field Notes editor, at adejong [at] montananaturalist [dot] org or 406.327.0405. Please visit the Field Notes website
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