Each member of a honeybee colony has a specific lifespan, after which they die. Each one of them also has unique features in their development and creation.
These features are unique to each one, allowing life to proceed as determined by the Creator. To understand the life cycle of each member, read the following:The Queen Bee
The queen lays fertilized eggs in special cells built by the worker bees, called royal cells, which are parallel to the surface of the wax comb and attached to it with wax. The eggs hatch after three days into larvae, which the workers feed with royal jelly for five days. The worker bees gradually extend the royal cell to accommodate the growing queen larva until it reaches the size of a peanut. After this period, the cell is sealed as the larva no longer needs to be fed. Then, the larva spins a cocoon within one day, rests for two days (pre-pupa stage), transforms into a pupa in one day, and remains in the pupa stage for three days. Thus, the total period from egg-laying to the end of the pupa stage is 15 days until the virgin queen emerges from the royal cell.
The Virgin Queen
The virgin queen chews her way out of the royal cell with her jaws and emerges to feed on honey for three days. She then chews through other sealed royal cells (from which virgin queens have not yet emerged), while the workers destroy the unsealed cells. Virgin queens are usually small in size and fast-moving across the combs, hiding among the worker bees, who pay her no attention in the early days until she is ready for her mating flight.
Appearance of Queen Bee Eggs
Determining the Age of Eggs
You can determine the age of the eggs in the hexagonal cells by looking at the angle of the egg in relation to the cell. On the first day, the egg stands vertically in the cell. On the second day, it tilts at a 45° angle, and on the third day, it lies flat on the cell. Knowing the age of the eggs is important, especially when inspecting the colony, as it helps determine the presence or absence of a queen, particularly in crowded colonies or when the queen has stopped laying eggs due to various reasons, which can be summarized in (Reasons for the Queen Stopping Egg Laying).
Parthenogenesis in Bees
- Fertilized eggs produce: queen bees or worker bees.
- Unfertilized eggs produce only drones.
The phenomenon of laying unfertilized eggs is known as parthenogenesis. These eggs are placed in hexagonal cells similar to the ones where fertilized eggs are laid by the queen, which produce worker bees, but the former cells are wider. The worker bees build these cells in the upper areas of the comb. Worker bees that lay eggs are called false mothers.
Worker Bees
After the eggs hatch, the worker bees feed the newly hatched larvae with royal jelly for three days. Then, they replace the royal jelly with bee bread for another two days. After that, they seal the hexagonal cell with a wax cap mixed with pollen (to provide proper ventilation for the brood). The larva spins a cocoon around itself for two days, enters a resting stage for three days, and transforms into a pupa within a day. It remains in the pupa stage for seven days before emerging as a fully developed insect. Thus, the total period from egg-laying to the emergence of fully developed insects is 21 days.
Male Bees
Drone bee larvae are fed royal jelly for three days, followed by bee bread for another three days. Afterward, the larvae are sealed with a wax cap made of wax and pollen, as described before. The cap of drone brood is convex (dome-shaped), unlike the flat cap of worker brood, due to the larger size of the drone pupa compared to the worker pupa. The drone larva spins a cocoon around itself for three days, rests for four days, and transforms into a pupa in one day. It remains in the pupa stage for a week, completing the drone's life cycle from egg-laying to the emergence of the fully developed insect in 24 days.
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