![]() In the first stage, a white fluid produced by the mandibular gland is fed to larvae for three days. Larvae in these queen cells are mass-fed with a royal diet for the entirety of their larval development. The royal diet contains three different stages. Special cells, known as “queen cups”, can be constructed by worker bees in which an existing queen will lay eggs into. The only difference between these two bees is their diet. Queen bees and worker bees both hatch from unfertilized eggs. In the winter, changes in the bees anatomy- specifically well-developed hypopharyngeal glands and an increased supply of fat bodies, enable worker bees to live 140-320 days. Worker bees typically live 15-38 summer days. The bee moves from the brood nest and begins integration into the life of a forager. After about three weeks the glands that produce larval food and wax begin to degenerate. These tasks include feeding and cleaning larvae, cleaning the hive cells, building comb, guarding, patrolling, accepting pollen from foragers, storing, curing, and packing pollen, and more. ![]() Young bees spend the first one to three weeks of their lives carrying out functions within the hive. Without the bacteria and proteins that ingesting pollen brings, the development process and lifespan of the bee can be threatened. Once emerging from the brood cell, bees must feed within a few hours. These newly hatched bees do not leave the cell for three to four hours, as they have a soft skin, or cuticle, that takes time to harden. After about 20 to 21 days, the pupa chews through the brood cell cap and emerges as a teneral or callow bee. ![]() Stored lipids, amino acids, and glycogen fuel the continued growth of the developing pupa. Pupae draw upon the stores of the fat bodies built up during the larval stage during this period of growth. The pupal stage is when most parts of the adult bee form the wings, legs, abdomen, internal organs, and muscles. They begin to spin a cocoon with silk produced from thoracic salivary glands, this marks the beginning the pupal stage. During the larval stage fat bodies are built up that are able to store lipids, glycogen, amino acids, and mitochondria bodies for later use in the pupal stage. After eight or nine days, the brood cells are capped and the larvae molt. Larvae are fed between 150-800 times per day for up to three days before the diet is changed to a less rich content and less frequent feeding schedule. During the first few days larvae are mass-fed a compound known as “worker jelly” or “brood food”- a mixture of fluids produced by the hypopharyngeal food glands and the mandibular glands of adult worker bees. After hatching, the bees spends an average of six days in the larval stage. Worker bees are female bees that hatch from a fertilized egg. ![]() Eggs hatch after about 3 days, but development rates and processes vary among bees within the hive, as well as between species in the genus Apis. ![]() Fertilized eggs can hatch worker and queen bees, unfertilized eggs hatch drone bees. Within a normal hive situation, a single queen bee lays fertilized and unfertilized eggs. The lifecycle of a honey bee consists of three main stages: the larval, pupal, and adult stages. ![]()
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