11/27/2018 The Honey Bee Life Cycle - PerfectBee

The Honey Bee Life Cycle

Course Progress
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The Science of Bees

Why Bees Rock!

The Incredible Diversity of Bees

The Anatomy of Bees

Honey Bee Genetics

How Honey Bees Reproduce

The Honey Bee Life Cycle

Exploring the Process of Pollination

The Secrets of Honeycomb

How Bees Use Pheromones

Why Bees Can’t Fly?

The Common Races of Honey Bees

Section Test : 1.1 The Science of Bees

The Life of Bees

The Role of the Drone Bee

The Role of the Queen Bee

The Role of the Worker Bee

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Inside and Out of the Beehive

How Bees Sense and React to Their World

Why and How Bees Forage

How Do Bees Make Honey?

Sticking with Propolis

Understanding The Honey Flow

Fat Bees and the Winter Cluster

Why and How Bees Swarm

Section Test : 1.2 The Life of Bees

About Beekeeping
The Philosophy of Natural Beekeeping

Beekeeping with Kids

The Growth Urban Beekeeping

Understanding Bee Stings

Finding Beekeeping Clubs and Mentors

Beekeeping and The Neighbors

Top Beekeeping Books For Your Bookshelf

Responsible Beekeeping

Section Test : 1.3 About Beekeeping

When we look at a single honey bee we see a small, seemingly simple creature. But
behind that modest frame is an incredible story. From the very start of its life, the bee
has a fascinating journey. In this lesson, we looks at the story of the honey bee, from
egg to adult.

A Word About Castes

Let’s start off with….controversy!
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When/if you join a beekeeping club (we’ll talk about that in another lesson), here’s a
suggestion. Stand in the middle of a meeting and introduce yourself by saying “I
believe there are <x> castes of honey bee”. Whether you replace <x> with 2 or 3, you
will make some friends. Unfortunately, you will also upset a few folks!

The de nition of a “caste” spurs quite some debate among more scienti cally-
inclined (some would say “geeky”) beekeepers. The issue boils down to whether you
think a drone counts as a caste.

Here is one de nition of caste…

“…a group of individuals of the same sex that behave similarly to each other but
differently from other members of their sex.”

For our female bees – as will discover in subsequent lessons many times over – it is
clear that the behaviors of worker and queen bees are so different that they are
unambiguously castes. One gender, two distinct sets of behaviors = two castes.

With drones…. it’s not so obvious.

Drones are drones. They are the same sex and basically act the same way! The
question, then, is whether drones “add one” to the number of castes.

There are many who will tell you that since there is no subset of drones that acts
differently to all the other drones, there is no such thing as a castes with drones. No
differentiation, therefore no castes.

Technically and scienti cally, that is probably accurate. But with females
“contributing” two castes – since there are two sets of behaviors – it seems logical
and natural to think of the drone as a single caste. And we know we will burn a few
bridges here!

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So, being the rebels we are, we’re going to refer to three castes in the hive, not two!
It’s just a more intuitive approach to us and lends us a convenient terminology when
referring to “the three castes of honeybee”.

But know that referring to 2 castes will be important to a lot of beekeepers you meet.
And we’re betting some will comment to this lesson! If you want to go with that,
we’re cool with that too.

OK, so moving on…

But First, the Movie….

Before we discuss the life cycle in detail, take a look at this extraordinary time-lapse
video from National Geographic, illustrating the beautiful transition from egg to
adult bee.

Note: The eagle-eyed among you may be able to spot one of the biggest threats to
bees today – the varroa mite.

Amazing Time-Lapse: Bees Hatch Before Your Ey…

The Honey Bee Life Cycle and Beekeeper Forensics

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The timeline associated with the life cycle of the honey bee is not merely a curiosity
to the beekeeper. An effective beekeeper has a keen awareness of the life cycle of
each caste (all three of them!).

Why? Let’s call it forensics.

A working knowledge of the life cycle of the honey bee...

…is an essential skill for any beekeeper.

Where possible, visual evidence is preferred during the inspection. But that’s not
always feasible or necessary. For example, on each inspection you will hope to visually
locate the queen. This is always comforting. But among 60,000 or more bees that’s

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not always a simple task, particularly to the new beekeeper. A marked queen will
help with the search but it can still be a challenge.

So, is it essential to locate the queen on every inspection? Absolutely not.

You do not need to spot the queen on every inspection! That’s where the forensics
come in.

As we will see, the life cycle of the honey bee has a well-de ned timeline, from egg to
adult. This varies across castes but there’s a general pattern that can be assumed.

As an example, if you search for your queen, you can’t nd her, but you DO nd eggs
then you know she’s been there very recently. It is this type of assessment and
interpretation, across many scenarios, that makes beekeeping fascinating and fun

But in the situation above, just how can we assume the queen must have passed by
to lay those eggs? Let’s see…

The Phases of a Bee’s Life From Egg to Adulthood

Egg
A quick refresher. The queen spends her life, after her mating ights, laying eggs.
She lays around 2,000 per day. The deciding factor as to whether an egg becomes a
male or female is based on whether she fertilizes the egg. If she does so, she has laid
an egg destined to be a worker or a queen i.e. a female. Otherwise the egg is
destined to be a male bee – a drone.

Larvae
The distinction between the two female castes – worker or queen – is made about
three days after the transition to larvae i.e. about 6 days after the egg is laid. Workers,
drones and queens are all fed royal jelly for their rst three days as larvae. That diet is
then stopped for both workers and drones. For queens, however, the royal (jelly)
treatment is continued. Interestingly, the effect of this is not to “promote” queen-like

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characteristics, as many assume, but rather to inhibit the development of worker

characteristics.

What makes a queen bee?

A female larvae fed royal jelly beyond its third day is destined to be a queen.

Before the transition to pupa, worker bees will use wax to cap the cell containing the
larvae, where it will remain until it emerges as an adult bee.

Pupa
As the pupa stage is reached and progresses, the bee within the capped cell starts
taking a more recognizable bee form. Features such as eyes, legs and wings all
develop and small hairs cover the bees body.

Adult
Finally, at the appropriate time, the bee will chew its way out from the capped cell. As
soon as s/he is free and moving away from the cell, worker bees will clean up the cell
and prepare it for the next egg.

The process, roles and ef ciency of a bee society at work is amazing!

Differences Between Castes

Despite these commonalities, there are distinct differences between the drone,
worker and queen bees as they move towards adulthood. Let’s look at these in detail.

With the notable exception of whether the egg is fertilized, an egg is an egg is an
egg! All three castes start life as a newly laid egg in a cell and this initial state lasts for
three days. Then differences become evident.

Note: The numbers below are typical but can vary based on various conditions and
factors.

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After the egg has hatched, each caste spends a different amount of time as larvae.

Queens are in the larva state up for 5 1/2 days (till 8 1/2 days after being laid as
an egg)
Workers are larvae up to for 6 days (till day 9 from being laid)
Drones spends the longest time as larvae, for 6 1/2 days (till 9 1/2 days from
being laid)

The duration of the pupa stage is as follows:

Queens are in the pupa stage for 8 days

Workers are in the pupa stage for 12 days
Drones are in the pupa stage for 14 1/2 days

Add these numbers up and the time from the egg being laid to emergence from the
cell as an adult bee is as follows (these are averages and variations do occur):

Queen: 16 days
Worker: 21 days
Drones: 24 days

Curiously, the time when cells are capped by worker bees differs between castes.

Queen cells are capped about a day or so before the transition to pupa, about 7
1/2 days after the egg was laid
Worker cells are capped around the same time as the transition occurs, at
about 9 days
Drones cells are capped a little after the transition to pupa has occurred, at
about 10 days

Life Expectancy
The overall life expectancy of each caste also differs considerably. Indeed, for workers
alone there are wide differences in life expectancy depending on the time of year.

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Queen
One of the most important factors effecting the queen’s survival is the viability of the
colony through the winter months. The winter cluster of worker bees will protect the
queen and regulate her temperature, even in the most extreme of conditions outside
the hive. However, their success in surviving till the spring depends on a wide range
of factors, not least of which is availability of resources (honey) within the hive.

How long do queen bees live?

The queen has the longest life expectancy and can live, in extreme cases, as
many as 7 years.

Another very important factor for the queen’s lifetime is her viability as an egg-laying
machine The colony is constantly checking her output and productivity. In some
cases they may decide she is not suf ciently productive – and take steps to replace
her!

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Worker
The expected lifetime of the worker bee also has some complications. In the
summertime, workers bees will effectively work themselves to death, carrying out a
large number of roles. If born any time from spring to late fall, workers will typically
live around 6 weeks.

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However, if a worker is born towards the end of fall or early winter, her role is quite
different. These are so-called winter bees and they are charged with helping the
queen survive the cold months.

Over this period the worker bee doesn’t have the strenuous obligation – or even the
option – to forage. For this reason, a worker bee can live up to 4-5 months through
the winter.

How long does a worker bee live?

This depends heavily on the time of year, from roughly 6 weeks in the summer
to up to 5 months in the winter.

Drone
Drones get the short straw! As something of a simpli cation, they have one thing on
their mind – sex. They live for the chance to mate with a queen. The very act of
mating is their last act and they will die after pulling away from the queen. If they
don’t mate, they will generally live around 5-7 weeks.

However, another eventuality awaits drones born in late summer.

Aside from the important and essential bene t of genetic diversity, drones really add
little value to the colony. They don’t forage or help with the production of honey in
any way. But they do consume resources.

Workers are accepting of this during the summer, when such resources are
abundant. But the idea of a drone being part of the winter cluster is offensive to
workers – drones haven’t contributed, so why allow them to stick around through the
winter?

For this reason, towards the end of fall drones will be evicted by workers, to die
outside the hive.

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The Rest of the Story

We’ve focused on the early, pre-adult life of the honey bee. We still have the life of the
adult bee to understand if we are going to truly describe the life cycle of the honey
bee. That story is just as fascinating, for the speci c roles of the drone, queen and
worker bees.

Lesson Complete

Mark Incomplete

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