They can often be seen sheltering under the heads of flowers when it rains or when it gets dark. Not all workers return to the nest every night, some spend the night outside, sheltering under flowers as the males do. New queens emerge about a week or so after the males. They mate, drink lots of nectar to build up their fat body, which will enable them to survive the winter hibernation, then find a suitable place to hibernate. Not all nests go on to produce males and queens, many fail in the early stages, some are damaged, and some never build up enough reserves to produce reproductives.
Some nests produce only queens, others only males, and some nests produce both males and queens.
Although it is possible for workers to lay unfertilised eggs that will be males, workers cannot produce queens or other workers. When this happens aggression between worker and worker, and worker and queen increases. Some workers try to lay eggs of their own, and may even attempt to eat eggs laid by the queen. In many cases the more persistent workers will succeed in laying some eggs. The production of males usually signals the beginning of the end of the co-operation and organisation of the nest.