It seems that the Queen Bee is dealing with the grief of her son's murder/suicide by becoming very busy and keeping all her little worker bees, including King Penie, very busy:
http://media.xfamily.org/docs/fam/gn/gn_1128-The%20Art%20of%20Dependence.htm
Busyness leads people to excessive denial and an estrangement from the core of their beings. The author, Alice Walker, once observed that we make God angry if we walk by the color purple in a field and do not notice it. "Smelling the roses" is a religious requirement, which workaholism prevents us from fulfilling. Workaholism stunts our spiritual growth.
Queenie's advice to her faithful flock is to depend on a supernatural Jesus. This is not the Incarnate One who lives and breathes in His body here on earth, nor the Sublime Creator Who immanates from the color purple in a field of flowers lifting their heads in praise. Maria's Keysus is a needy seducer of hearts grasped through mental imagery and masterbatory discharges of anxiety.
If Queenie vigorously pursue her path of busyness, it may well lead to a complete nervous collapse. The dark angel of light on which Maria's supernatural strength depends is a vampire intent on consuming her.