How is a queen bee chosen?

Answer 1

A queen is chosen as a two-day-old larva. Once she emerges from her cell, she quickly finds and kills any rivals, one at a time as they are hatched. Then she mates with enough drone (male) bees to give her enough sperm cells to last her lifetime (about two to five years). She can lay up to 2,000 eggs each day, and chooses eggs to be drone or worker bees by either fertilizing them (worker) or not (drone). Once a queen dies, a new one is chosen, and the cycle begins again.

Answer 2

The Queen doesn't choose the next Queen: the Monarchy is hereditary and the Queen will be succeeded by her eldest son, Prince Charles. His wife Camilla may become Queen, although because of the complications surrounding her marriage into the Royal Family it was announced at the time of their marriage in 2005, that she would never be Queen, only Princess Consort.

If and when Prince William succeeds to the throne, his wife, Catherine (or Kate as she's more commonly known) will be Queen.