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The lifecycle of a honey bee follows a similar pattern to that of other bees, consisting of four main stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. However, the specifics of the lifecycle vary slightly depending on whether the bee is a worker, drone, or queen. Here's a detailed look at the honey bee's lifecycle:
1. Egg Stage
• Duration: 3 days
• Description: The queen bee lays an egg in each cell of the honeycomb. The eggs are small, white, and resemble tiny grains of rice.
o Fertilized Eggs: Develop into female bees, which can become either worker bees or queens depending on their diet.
o Unfertilized Eggs: Develop into male drones.
2. Larva Stage
• Duration:
o Worker Bee: 5-6 days
o Drone: 6-7 days
o Queen: 5 days
• Description: After three days, the egg hatches into a larva. The larva is fed by nurse bees.
o Worker Larvae: Fed a mixture of royal jelly and bee bread (pollen and honey).
o Queen Larvae: Fed exclusively royal jelly, a nutrient-rich secretion, which causes them to develop into queens.
o Drone Larvae: Fed pollen and honey (bee bread).
• Molting: Larvae shed their skin several times as they grow, rapidly consuming large amounts of food.
3. Pupa Stage
• Duration:
o Worker Bee: 12 days
o Drone: 14 days
o Queen: 7-8 days
• Description: After the larva reaches full size, it spins a cocoon around itself. Worker bees then cap the cell with wax. Once capped, the developing bee is known as capped brood, and it undergoes metamorphosis into its adult form. The pupa develops within the sealed cell, transforming from a soft larva into a fully formed bee, including wings, eyes, and legs.
• Key Changes: This is the stage where the bee changes from a soft larva into a fully formed adult honey bee.
4. Bee Brood Stage (Between Pupa and Adult)
• Duration: Overlaps with the pupa stage.
• Description:
The term bee brood collectively refers to all developing stages of the bee inside the cell, including eggs, larvae, and pupae. However, capped brood specifically applies to pupae that are in their final transformation before emerging as adults.
o Capped Brood: At this point, the transformation from pupa to adult is nearing completion. As the bee completes its development, it prepares to emerge from the cell as a fully formed adult.
4. Adult Stage:
Emergence from Capped Brood: After completing metamorphosis inside the capped brood cell, the adult bee chews through the wax cap and emerges from the cell. The new bee, whether worker, drone, or queen, then takes its place in the colony, beginning its life outside the brood as an active adult.
• Duration:
o Worker Bee: Lives 6-8 weeks during the summer, but can survive several months in the winter.
o Drone: Lives 4-8 weeks; dies after mating or is expelled from the hive in late autumn.
o Queen: Lives 2-5 years, depending on her health and the strength of the hive.
• Emergence: The adult bee chews through the wax cap of the cell and emerges. After a few hours of drying out, it becomes active and takes on its role within the colony.