Hive Queen - Shadows in Flight

In Shadows in Flight, Bean and his children discover a Formic Ark, most of whose inhabitants have died. Here they encounter "rabs" – creatures which appear to be a throwback to the Formics' evolutionary history – and conclude that the Hive Queens are capable of manipulating the DNA of their offspring to create different species for various purposes. Next they encounter male Formics – drones – from whom they learn that female/worker Formics are not merely extensions of the Hive Queen's will, but sentient beings with their own minds who are overwhelmed and essentially forced into slavery. Each Hive Queen infects all of her daughters with a special organelle before they hatch; the organelle terminates any workers who shows signs of independence, allowing the Hive Queen to remain the unchallenged ruler of her brood. It also becomes apparent that this is not the only Formic Ark in existence, and that it is likely that the Formic species is alive and well.

Since this information was not included in Ender Wiggin's book, The Hive Queen, Bean realises that Ender's Hive Queen – supposedly the last – has manipulated Ender into portraying her in a positive light, and that Ender has dedicated his life to restoring the power of a tyrannical creature that has misled him about her true nature. However, Bean is unable to get this information to Ender, as his children have taken the ship's ansible away from him in order to protect their fledgling species from human civilisation.