Honey bee life cycle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The honey bee life cycle, here referring exclusively to the domesticated Western honey bee, depends greatly on their social structure.
Contents |
[edit] Colony life
Unlike a bumble bee colony or a paper wasp colony the life of a honey bee colony is perennial. There are three castes of honey bees: queens, which produce eggs; drones or males, which mate with the queen and have no stinger; and workers, which are all non-reproducing females. The queen lays eggs singly in cells of the comb. Larvae hatch from eggs in three to four days and are fed by worker bees and develop through several stages in the cells. Cells are capped by worker bees when the larva pupates. Queen and drones are larger than workers and require enlarged cells to develop. A colony may typically consist of tens of thousands of individuals.
[edit] Development
Queens complete development in 15.5 days, drones in 24 days and workers in 21 days for larvae and pupae stages. 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. The unfertilized eggs develop into drones and the fertilized eggs develop into either workers or virgin queens. A queen may live three to five years; drones usually die before winter; and workers may live for a few months.
| Type | Egg | Larva | Cell capped | Pupa | Average Developmental Period | Start of Fertility | Body Length | Hatching Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queen | 3 days | 5 1/2 days | 7 1/2 days | 8 days | 16 days | approx. 23 days | 18-22 mm | nearly 200 mg |
| Worker | 3 days | 6 days | 9 days | 12 days | 21 days (Range: 18-22days) | N/A | 12-15 mm | nearly 100 mg |
| Drone | 3 days | 6 1/2 days | 10 days | 14 1/2 days | 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
[edit] Sources
- Development of honeybees bee-info.com, accessed Oct 2005
- Caste in the honey bee Stanley E Flanders, 1960; Insectes Sociaux; web accessed Oct 2006
- Die Kastenentstehung bei der Honigbiene, Apis mellifica L. H. Rembold; DIE NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN 51 Heft 3 (1964) web accessed Oct. 2006
[edit] See also
| Honey bee types and characteristics (edit) | |||
| Queen bees | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Worker and drone bees | |||
| Worker bee | Laying worker bee | Drone | |||
| Lifecycle | |||
| Beehive | Honey bee life cycle | Brood Bee learning and communication | Swarming |
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| Subspecies and Races | |||
| Apis mellifera mellifera | Africanized bee | Buckfast bee Carniolan honey bee | Italian bee | Western honey bee |
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| Cultivation | |||
| Beekeeping | Beeswax | Honey Apiary | Beehive | Langstroth hive | Top-bar hive |
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| Lists | |||
| List of honey bee articles | List of honey bee races | |||
| Diseases of the honey bee | |||
