This paper proposes a control-based approach for duty cycle adaptation in wireless sensor networks. The proposed method, QCon, controls duty cycle through queue management in order to achieve high performance under variable traffic rates. To minimize energy consumption while meeting delay requirement, we design a feedback controller, which adapts the sleeping time according to dynamically changing traffic by constraining the queue length at a predetermined value. Based on control theory, we analyze the adaptive behavior of QCon and derive conditions for system stability. Results from asymptotic analysis and simulations indicate that QCon outperforms existing scheduling protocol by achieving more energy savings while satisfying delay requirement.