The life cycle of the honey bee, a highly social insect, is a complex biological process that sustains the entire colony. Honey bees undergo complete metamorphosis, involving a dramatic change in body form through four distinct stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. This transformation is managed by the colony and is linked to the individual bee’s caste—worker, drone, or queen. Understanding this sequence shows how the hive maintains its population and functional structure.
The Egg Stage
The life cycle begins when the queen deposits a single egg into a hexagonal wax cell. The queen controls the fertilization of each egg, which dictates the sex and potential role of the offspring. A fertilized egg develops into a female (worker or queen), while an unfertilized egg develops into a male (drone). The egg is tiny, pearly white, and positioned upright at the cell’s base. This initial stage lasts approximately three days, regardless of the bee’s future caste.
The Larval Stage: Growth and Caste Determination
After about 72 hours, the egg hatches into a soft, legless, white grub known as a larva. This is a period of explosive growth, where the larva functions as a feeding machine, increasing its body weight dramatically before it pupates. Worker bees, known as nurse bees, constantly feed the larvae, which shed their skin multiple times (molting) to accommodate their rapid increase in size.
The quality of the larval diet determines the caste of females. Female larvae destined to become sterile worker bees are fed royal jelly for only the first few days, then their diet switches to “bee bread,” a mixture of pollen and honey. A female larva selected to become a queen is continuously fed a copious amount of royal jelly throughout its entire larval development. This superior nutrition activates the biological pathways necessary for a fully fertile reproductive female.
The Pupal Stage: Transformation in the Cell
Once the larva is fully grown, it stretches out in its cell and spins a thin silken cocoon. Worker bees seal the cell with a wax cap, creating a protected environment for the final transformation. Inside this sealed cell, the pupal stage begins, marking the complete metamorphosis from a grub to a winged insect.
This process involves significant internal restructuring, where larval tissues are broken down and adult structures like wings, legs, and antennae are formed. The duration of this hidden stage varies by caste: a queen develops fastest (seven to eight days), a worker takes around 12 days, and a drone requires 14 to 15 days. The pupa does not feed, relying entirely on the stored energy from the larval stage to complete its development.
The Adult Honey Bee: Roles and Lifespan
The life cycle culminates when the new adult bee chews through the wax cap of its cell and emerges (eclosion). The adult worker bee immediately begins its sequential life of service within the hive, starting with cleaning cells and warming the brood. As worker bees age, their duties transition from house tasks—such as feeding older larvae, constructing comb, and receiving nectar from foragers—to becoming guard bees and finally, foragers.
The lifespan of an adult bee depends on its role and the season. Worker bees typically live five to seven weeks during the active summer season, but those born in the fall can survive for several months to help the colony through winter. Drones, whose sole purpose is to mate with a virgin queen, have a life span that ends shortly after successful mating, or they are expelled from the hive in the fall. The queen, responsible for laying thousands of eggs daily, is the longest-lived, often surviving for two to three years, ensuring the continuation of the next generation.