Bee colonies will rear new queens under the following conditions:
- Swarm – when the colony is ready to reproduce, they will make a new queen. Half of the colony will leave along with the old queen, leaving behind the new queen and half the bees.
- When a queen is failing, the colony will make a new queen to replace the old queen. This is called a supersedure.
- When the queen has died, the colony will make a new queen to replace her provided there are eggs less than three days old. If the eggs are more than three days old, it’s too late for them to make a queen and the colony becomes hopelessly queenless.