Honey Bee Life Cycle – Explanation & Diagram
Honey bees are social insects known for their teamwork, organised colonies, and, of course, the sweet honey they produce. They play a vital role in pollination, ensuring we have a variety of fruits, vegetables, and other plants. In this lesson, we will explore the life cycle of a honey bee, understand how they build their hives, find out how long honey bees live, and learn about honey production methods. We will also look at diagrams and add some unique tips and tricks for easy learning.
Introduction to Honey Bees
Honeybees belong to the genus Apis, and the most common species is Apis mellifera. This species is widely known for producing large quantities of honey and for its importance in agriculture. The practice of raising and managing honey bees for honey and other products is called apiculture or beekeeping.
A typical beehive may contain 20,000 to 50,000 bees. Sometimes, the population can even touch 80,000. These bees are divided into three main types:
Queen Bee: The only fertile female in the hive.
Worker Bees: Sterile females who perform all the tasks in the hive, like gathering food, feeding larvae, building honeycombs, and protecting the hive.
Drone Bees: Males whose primary role is to mate with the queen.
When studying the life cycle of a honey bee diagram, you will typically see a circular flow showing the egg at the centre, followed by the larva, pupa, and adult stages. Here is a simple way to visualise it:
Egg →
Larva (days 3 to 6) →
Pupa (cell sealed, physical features develop) →
Adult (emerges fully formed)
Stages of the Life Cycle of a Honey Bee
The life cycle of a honey bee occurs in four main stages:
Egg
Larva
Pupa
Adult
1. Egg Stage
The queen bee is the only bee in the colony that lays eggs (2,000 to 3,000 in a day).
The egg remains upright initially and then falls to its side by the third day.
Fertilised eggs develop into female bees (workers or potential queens).
Unfertilised eggs develop into male bees, called drones.
2. Larval Stage
After three days, the egg hatches into a larva.
All larvae (worker, drone, or future queen) are given “royal jelly” for the first three days.
From day four onwards, only queen larvae continue to receive royal jelly, while worker and drone larvae are fed pollen and nectar (often referred to as "worker jelly").
During the larval phase, the larva sheds its skin multiple times and grows rapidly.
After about five to six days of larval development, worker bees seal the top of the cell with wax.
3. Pupal Stage
Once sealed, the larvae transform into pupae.
In this stage, body structures like wings, legs, eyes, and tiny hairs develop.
4. Adult Stage
After the pupal stage, the adult bee emerges by chewing through the wax cap.
How long do honey bees live? It depends on whether they are queen bees, worker bees, or drones:
Queen bees reach adulthood in approximately 16 days.
Worker bees take 18 to 22 days to emerge as adults.
Drone bees require around 24 days.
An adult queen bee can live for a few years, worker bees usually live for a few weeks to a few months (depending on the season), and drones often live only during the active breeding season.
Beehive Construction and Honey Production
Beeswax and Honeycomb
Young worker bees produce beeswax from eight paired glands on their abdomen.
The wax is secreted as a liquid which hardens when exposed to air.
Bees often chew the wax to keep it malleable, using it to build the honeycomb cells.
Honey Making
Honey bees collect nectar from flowers and store it in their “honey stomach.”
In the beehive, nectar is passed from one bee to another, reducing its water content.
Eventually, the nectar is deposited into the cells of the honeycomb. Worker bees fan their wings to evaporate the remaining moisture, turning nectar into honey.
A strong colony can produce an impressive amount of honey—some estimates suggest up to 50 to 60,000 pounds over the hive’s lifetime, though the bees themselves only need about 25% to survive.
Bee Bread
As bees collect nectar, they also gather pollen in their “pollen baskets” on their hind legs.
This pollen is taken back to the hive and mixed with nectar to form “bee bread,” a rich source of protein for worker bees and developing larvae.
What are the 7 Levels of Classification for a Honey Bee?
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Apis
Species: Apis mellifera
An easy mnemonic to remember the general taxonomic ranks for classification (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species) is:
King Philip Can Often Find Green Spiders.
(This can be adapted to recall any species classification, including honey bees.)
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)
Beekeepers began noticing a sudden disappearance of large numbers of bees in 2006, a phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Possible reasons include:
Climate changes
Genetically modified crops
Overuse of pesticides
Electromagnetic radiation (e.g., from mobile phones)
Research continues to find solutions and protect these vital pollinators.
Additional Facts and Tips
Pollination Speed: Honey bees can fly up to 20 miles per hour when searching for pollen and around 17 miles per hour when returning with nectar.
Role in Agriculture: It is believed that one-third of our food supply depends on pollination by honey bees.
Life Span Variation: How long do honey bees live? Queens can live for a few years, while workers and drones have shorter life spans.
Quick Quiz on Honey Bees
Try this short quiz to check your knowledge:
Which bee in the colony lays eggs?
a) Worker Bee
b) Drone Bee
c) Queen Bee
d) All of the above
How many stages are there in the life cycle of a honey bee?
a) 2
b) 3
c) 4
d) 5
What are male honey bees called?
a) Drones
b) Workers
c) Soldiers
d) Larvae
What do we call the practice of raising bees?
a) Forestry
b) Apiculture
c) Aquaculture
d) Poultry
What is ‘bee bread’?
a) Bread for human consumption
b) A mixture of pollen and nectar
c) Fungal growth in the hive
d) Leftover honey
Answer Key
c) Queen Bee
c) 4
a) Drones
b) Apiculture
b) A mixture of pollen and nectar
Related Topics
FAQs on The Life Cycle of a Honey Bee: Full Diagram, Stages and Classification
1. What are the four main stages in the life cycle of a honey bee?
The life cycle of a honey bee consists of four distinct stages, a process known as complete metamorphosis. The stages are:
- Egg: The queen bee lays a single egg in each honeycomb cell.
- Larva: After about three days, the egg hatches into a worm-like larva, which is fed by worker bees.
- Pupa: The larva develops within a capped cell, transforming its body structure into that of an adult bee.
- Adult: The fully formed bee chews its way out of the cell as a queen, worker, or drone.
2. How is the scientific classification of a honey bee structured?
The honey bee, specifically Apis mellifera, is classified under the following seven taxonomic ranks:
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Hymenoptera
- Family: Apidae
- Genus: Apis
- Species: mellifera
3. How long does it take for a honey bee to develop from an egg to an adult?
The development time for a honey bee varies depending on its role in the colony. A queen bee develops the fastest, taking approximately 16 days. A worker bee takes about 18 to 22 days to mature. A drone bee has the longest development period, requiring around 24 days to emerge as an adult.
4. What is the main difference in the roles of a worker bee, a drone bee, and a queen bee?
The three types of bees in a colony have highly specialised roles. The queen bee is the only fertile female, responsible for laying all the eggs. Worker bees are sterile females that perform all essential tasks, such as foraging for food, building the hive, and caring for larvae. Drone bees are males whose sole purpose is to mate with a queen.
5. How do honey bees build their honeycomb and produce honey?
Young worker bees produce beeswax from special glands on their abdomens. They chew this wax to make it pliable and construct the hexagonal cells of the honeycomb. To produce honey, bees collect nectar from flowers and store it in a special stomach. Back in the hive, they pass the nectar to other bees, reducing its water content, and then deposit it into honeycomb cells. They fan the cells with their wings to evaporate more water until it becomes honey, which they seal with wax.
6. What determines if a fertilised egg develops into a queen bee or a worker bee?
The diet of the larva determines its destiny. While all female larvae (from fertilised eggs) are initially fed royal jelly, only a larva destined to be a queen is fed this special, protein-rich substance exclusively throughout its development. Larvae that will become worker bees are switched to a diet of pollen and nectar, often called 'bee bread', after the first few days.
7. Why do honey bees perform a 'waggle dance', and what information does it convey?
The waggle dance is a sophisticated form of communication used by honey bees to inform other foragers about the location of a valuable food source. The dance conveys two key pieces of information: the direction of the food source in relation to the sun's position, and the distance from the hive to the source. The duration of the 'waggle' part of the dance indicates how far away the food is.
8. What type of metamorphosis do honey bees undergo, and how does it differ from incomplete metamorphosis?
Honey bees undergo complete metamorphosis, which involves four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. In this process, the larval stage (which looks very different from the adult) transforms completely during the non-feeding pupal stage. This differs from incomplete metamorphosis, seen in insects like grasshoppers, where the young (called nymphs) resemble smaller, wingless versions of the adult and grow by moulting without a pupal stage.
9. What is the importance of 'bee bread' in the honey bee colony?
Bee bread is a vital food source within the hive, created by mixing pollen with nectar or honey. Unlike honey, which is a carbohydrate-rich energy source, bee bread is packed with protein and lipids from the pollen. It is the primary food for developing larvae (except for the queen) and provides essential nutrients for the adult worker bees to maintain their health and gland functions.
10. Besides producing honey, what is the importance of honey bees to the ecosystem and agriculture?
The most critical role of honey bees is pollination. As they travel from flower to flower collecting nectar, they transfer pollen, which is essential for the reproduction of many plants. It is estimated that about one-third of the human food supply, including numerous fruits, vegetables, and nuts, depends on pollinators like bees. Their activity supports both agricultural productivity and biodiversity in natural ecosystems.
