The queen is not the monarch of the hive. She is the reproductive body. I don’t believe she knows anything except how to lay eggs. (Well she does raise her first brood, but after they hatch she just sits and reproduces.
Douglas Hofstander wrote a book “Godel, Escher, Bach an Eternal Golden Braid”. In the book is a character, the Anteater, who has a friend that is an ant colony (named Aunt Hillary <groan> ). He is not a friend to the individual ants, but is a good friend to the collective. The personality of Aunt Hillary is emergent behavior, the ants themselves are unaware of her.
Virtually yours,
DrMatrix
These words are mine and they are true - Chief Meninock