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Bee lifecycle
Bees are insects and so have four stages of life. They are:
- Egg. The queen lays eggs and these hatch in a few days
- Larva. Out of the eggs emerge worm-like larvae. They do little but eat.
- Pupa. Having eaten, the larvae wrap themseves up and undergo metamorphosis.
- Adult. The bee that we all know and love hatches from the coccoon.
Depending on how it was treated in the previous stages, it may be a drone, worker or queen.
The below table shows typical stages, measured in days since the egg is laid.
| Stage |
Worker |
Queen |
Drone |
| Hatching
of Egg |
3 |
3 |
3 |
| First
larval moult |
3.5 |
3.5 |
4 |
| Second
larval moult |
4.5 |
4.5 |
5 |
| Third
larval moult |
5.5 |
5.5 |
6 |
| Fourth
larval moult |
6.5 |
6.5 |
7 |
| Sealing of
cell |
8 to 9
|
9 |
12 |
| Spinning
cocoon |
10 |
9 |
12 |
| Fifth
larval moult to pupa |
11 |
10 |
14 |
| Emergence
from cell |
21 |
16 |
24 |
| Ready to
mate |
- |
20 |
37 |
| Life
Expectancy |
28 to 35
days, Autumn born bees often live through the winter |
2-3 years |
Culled by
females at end of summer. |
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