Bee Lifecycle

Bee Lifecycle

The following information was provided to Marin Bees by Elsa Latini, a Marin beekeeper:

Days in the lives of worker bees — From the first day, summer these bees perform tasks for the colony, and each worker bee will do each of the “jobs” as it progresses from its emergence on day 1 until it dies approximately 6 weeks later. The following 2 charts show the tasks performed by bees as they mature from workers within the hive to field bees, who spend their days outside the hive.

Hive workers:

Hive Bee Tasks	Days in Life
Cleaning cells and keeping brood warm	1-2
Feeding older larvae	3-5
Feeding younger larvae	6-11
Producing wax, Building comb & transporting food within the hive	12-17
Guarding hive entrance	18-21

Field Bees:

Field Bee Tasks	Days in Life
Visiting flowers, collecting pollen, nectar and water	22-34
End of Life	35-45

If that doesn't put YOUR life in perspective I don't know what will...