In beekeeping, the queen is introduced to the colony in a cage, which gives the other bees time to acclimate to her scent. Once she is accepted, the worker bees will eat away the sugar stopper, allowing her to enter the hive. She is then free to rule the colony and lay her eggs, making the community strong. This image is from the “Queen Bee” series, exploring the gentle yet dominant nature of the matriarch. —Traci Harmon-Hay
