The stages of development of a honey bee are a rather complex and interesting process. Beekeepers must be well aware of this process in order to plan their activities in the apiary, avoid harming the bees, and harvest honey. Beekeepers are often faced with many questions that can only be answered by understanding the life cycle of a worker bee. Therefore, in this article, we will examine the life cycle of honey bees, how long it takes for a young bee to start working and what tasks it performs, and learn a lot of interesting and useful information.
The life cycle of a bee, from egg to bee
The development cycle of a bee from egg to bee is divided into stages.
The following stages of honey bee development are distinguished:
• Egg stage
• Larva stage
• Prepupal stage
• Pupal stage
Let’s take a closer look at the stages of honey bee development.
Development of bees at the egg stage
The bee’s development cycle begins when the queen lays a fertilized egg in a cell, from which larvae hatch. This is the egg stage, which lasts for 3 days. For beekeepers, the presence of eggs is an indicator that there is a queen in the colony. It is important to remember that at this stage of honeybee development, it is possible to obtain new queens.
Development of bees at the larval stage
Then the larval stage begins, which lasts 6 days. Larvae up to 3 days old are fed royal jelly, but after that, their fate depends directly on their diet. If the larva continues to be fed royal jelly, it will grow into a young queen. Thus, bees only do this in the event of the death of the old queen or a significant increase in the size of the colony. The growth of the colony and the appearance of a young queen leads to a process called swarming. In essence, this is the division of a large bee colony, in which the old queen, together with part of the bees (the swarm), leaves the hive and looks for a new place to settle. The young queen takes the place of the queen in the old hive.
Therefore, the beekeeper must remember that on the 9th-10th day, the bees seal the brood. How many days it takes for the sealed brood to emerge will be discussed below.
Development of bees at the pre-pupal stage
Over the next three days, the bee’s development stage is called the pre-pupa stage. At this stage of development, the beekeeper observes the sealed brood of bees. The pre-pupa stage ends on the 12th day.
Development of bees at the pupal stage
The pupal stage completes the development of the worker bee. This stage lasts nine days and ends on the 21st day. At this stage of development, the beekeeper observes the sealed brood of bees.
The development of bees in the pupal stage is an extremely important stage in the development of a bee colony. During this period, the Varroa mite can kill bees, which requires the beekeeper to take measures to combat it before sealed brood appears in the colony, where it becomes invulnerable.
The age of the sealed brood can be determined by its color. The longer the pupa develops, the darker the sealed brood becomes. The beekeeper determines the color of the sealed brood at the exit and uses it to form splits.
The emergence of a young bee
The development period of a bee at all stages of development, from egg to bee, takes 21 days. On the 21st day, the bee emerges from the cell. It is important to understand when there will be enough bees in the colony for honey collection or wintering.
This is the sequence of stages of development of a honey bee established by nature.
Do not think that a bee will fly off to collect honey immediately after birth; the life cycle of a bee is structured differently, as we will see below.
The life of a bee from birth to death
The growth and development process of bees is extremely interesting. The life cycle of a worker bee during the active period is subject to distinct specialization. Specialization is mainly determined by the age of the bee, its physiological condition and to a large extent the immediate needs of a particular colony.
Bees are divided into hive bees, which work in the hive and do not yet fly out of it. The second group is forager bees, which have already matured and are engaged in collecting nectar, pollen, and water for the bee colony.
After hatching, bees spend the first 1-2 days after leaving their cells cleaning the hive, cleaning the cells for their newly hatched sisters and warming the brood.
At 3-5 days old, young bees begin to feed older larvae with a mixture of pollen and honey.
From day 6 to day 12, the glands that produce royal jelly begin to function fully in young bees, and bees feed royal jelly to the queen bee and larvae up to three days old. At the same time, bees at this age collect and tamp pollen and receive nectar from forager bees. They also clean the combs.
Starting from 12 days of age, the wax glands of young bees begin to function actively. These bees are actively involved in the construction of new combs.
On the 16th day, young bees make a trial flight. The timing of the bee’s flight after leaving the cells is a very important date. For example, before wintering, young bees must have time to fly, otherwise they will not survive the winter. A mistake in determining the day on which the bee flies can lead to the death of the colony.
On days 17-19, young bees guard the nest and continue to work as receivers of collected nectar, tamping pollen into the cells, turning it into bee bread, regulating the temperature and air exchange in the hive, and performing other internal hive work.
Starting on the 20th day, young bees begin their main duty—collecting nectar and pollen.
| Age (Days) | Primary Role | Specific Activities |
| 1-2 | House Cleaner | Cleaning hive, cleaning cells for newly hatched bees, warming the brood |
| 3-5 | Young Nurse | Feeding older larvae, mixing pollen and honey for larval food |
6-12 | Royal Jelly Producer | Feeding royal jelly to queen, feeding royal jelly to larvae (up to 3 days old), collecting and tamping pollen, receiving nectar from foragers, cleaning combs |
| 12-16 | Wax Producer & Builder | Active comb construction, building new cells |
| 16 | Flight Preparation | Trial flight (orientation flight) |
17-19 | Guard & House Worker | Guarding the nest, receiving nectar from foragers, tamping pollen into cells, сonverting pollen to bee bread, temperature regulation, air exchange management, other internal hive duties |
| 20 + | Forager | Primary duty: Collecting nectar, сollecting pollen, gathering water for colony |
Conclusion
Understanding the life cycle of a worker bee helps you organize your work with bees correctly in order to achieve your goals, such as honey production, apiary expansion, and preparing bees for winter.
