Hornet Queen Murdered By Her Own Daughters | Buddha Bees and The Giant Hornet Queen | BBC Earth

The queen is so close to achieving success. Within days of the battle, her young fertile offspring have begun to spin their caps. But at this triumphant moment, something is wrong. Her own fertility has failed and she no longer produces the pheromones which have kept her aggressive warriors subjugated. Her workers sense her impotence. Her faithful warriors, her very own daughters, rise up against her. She is killed. In this power vacuum, the nest descends into anarchy. The workers turn on their own larvae and fight amongst themselves. The nest floor is covered with the death and decay of a fallen empire. But the dead queen's life has not been in vain. From the ruins of the empire, new lives emerge. First males and then new queens burst forth from their cells. And a different kind of battle begins. Males fight for the right to mate. The queens will only mate once before escaping. And everyone that does carries the old queen's bloodline. Like her, they will have many challenges to overcome. But their mother was strong, so they will have a fighting chance.