The cho-ja queen is the most important member of a cho-ja hive. One is born less than once during a human lifetime, at which time, extra Cho-ja soldiers are hatched and hastened to maturity. They protect her until she travels and settles in a new hive and a royal chamber. A young queen is lithe, delicately formed, and has a deep maroon colour. Within a matter of weeks she is big enough to rule and a few months later starts reproduction. The eggs are then laid in a creche to hatch.