Development
Development from egg to emerging bee varies among queens, workers and drones. Queens emerge from their cells in 16 days, workers in 21 days and drones in 24 days. Only one queen is usually present in a hive. New virgin queens develop in enlarged cells through differential feeding of royal jelly by workers. When the existing queen ages or dies or the colony becomes very large a new queen is raised by the worker bees. The virgin queen takes one or several nuptial flights and once she is established starts laying eggs in the hive.
A fertile queen is able to lay fertilized or unfertilized eggs. Each unfertilized egg contains a unique combination of 50% of the queen's genes and develops into a haploid drone. The fertilized eggs develop into either workers or virgin queens.
The average lifespan of a queen is three to four years; drones usually die upon mating or are expelled from the hive before the winter; and workers may live for a few weeks in the summer and several months in areas with an extended winter.
| Type | Egg | Larva | Cell capped | Pupa | Average Developmental Period
(Days until emergence) |
Start of Fertility | Body Length | Hatching Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queen | up to Day 3 | up to Day 8½ | Day 7½ | Day 8 until emergence | 16 days | Day 23 and up | 18-22 mm | nearly 200 mg |
| Worker | up to Day 3 | up to Day 9 | Day 9 | Day 10 until emergence (Day 11 or 12 last moult) | 21 days
(range: 18-22 days) |
N/A | 12-15 mm | nearly 100 mg |
| Drone | up to Day 3 | up to Day 9½ | Day 10 | Day 10 until emergence | 24 days | approx. 38 days | 15-17 mm | nearly 200 mg |
The weight progression of the worker egg, larvae.
| Days | Developmental state | Weight | Length | Food source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | egg | 0.132 mg | 1.2mm | yolk |
| 2 | egg | not listed | yolk | |
| 3 | egg | 0.09 mg | yolk | |
| 4 | larva | not listed | Royal jelly | |
| 5 | larva | 3.4 mg | Royal jelly | |
| 6 | larva | 33.3 mg | Royal jelly/honey and pollen (bee bread) | |
| 7 | larva | 100.1 mg | honey and pollen (bee bread) | |
| 8 | larva | 134.5 mg | honey and pollen (bee bread) | |
| 9 | larva | 155.2 mg | honey and pollen (bee bread) |
Source: Stone, David M. Overview of Bee Biology University of Illinois Laboratory Highschool; web accessed Oct. 2006
Read more about this topic: Honey Bee Life Cycle
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