Honey bees are holometabolous, meaning they go through complete metamorphosis in four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The term brood refers to the developing bees in the egg, larva, or pupa stage. In the comb, one egg is laid per cell, and after three days of developing, hatches into a larva. After a few more days, a worker bee caps the cell and the larva enters the pupal stage. Within the capped cells, the pupae undergo metamorphosis and emerge as bees. The different castes take different amounts of time to develop.
Colony seasonal activities cycle
FALL
Preparation for winter Food storage Decreased brood rearing Decrease in population Drones driven off Egg laying slows/stops (Oct) |
WINTER
Old bees die, young survive Bees form cluster to keep brood warm Queen begins laying (Dec/Jan) to increase population for spring |
SPRING
Field worker force increases Drones are produced Increased egg laying for swarm/colony division Preparing to rear new queen Larvae fed royal jelly to make queen cells |
SUMMER
Swarming: old queen and 1/2 of bees leave to construct new hive. Virgin queen in old hive fights other queens and mates drones. Bees cool inside of the hive by spreading water Peak population in early summer Increase work to collect/store pollen and nectar for winter. |
Making Honey
Figure 9The process of making honey is somewhat complex. It begins when the bee lands on a flower and drinks its nectar. This is accomplished by using their incredibly long tongue. The nectar is then stored in the honey sac, or honey stomach, where it is broken down into fructose and glucose. The honey bee flies back to the hive, and spits the nectar out into one of the comb cells. Then, the water evaporates from the sugars and turns it into honey. At this point, the bees cover the cell with a wax cap, using the wax from the gland on their abdomen: and now they have food for the winter!