Life Expectancy
The average lifespan of the queen in most subspecies is three to four years. However, reports from the German/European black bee subspecies previously used for beekeeping, indicate the queen could live up to eight years. Because queens deplete their store of sperm, towards the end of their lives, they start laying more and more unfertilized eggs. Beekeepers therefore frequently change queens every year or every other year.
The lifespan of the workers varies drastically over the year in places with an extended winter. Workers born in the spring and summer will work hard and live only a few weeks, whereas those born in the autumn will stay inside for several months as the colony clusters. On average during the year, about one percent of a colony's worker bees die naturally per day. Except for the queen, all of the colony's workers are therefore exchanged about every four months.
Read more about this topic: Western Honey Bee
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