Metamorphosis
Lexikon
The complete transformation of the bee from egg through larva and pupa to the finished insect.
The complete transformation of the bee from egg through larva and pupa to the finished insect.
The timetable is fixed and decisive for beekeeping management: the worker bee needs 21 days, the queen only 16, the drone 24. The egg stage lasts three days for all three castes. This is followed by the open larval period, five days for the queen and six for worker and drone. The queen cell is thus capped after about eight days, worker and drone cells after about nine. The bee spends the rest of the time as a pupa under the wax capping.
Anyone who knows these figures can calculate backwards: the condition of the brood shows when the queen last laid and when a queen cell will hatch.
Sources (4)
- Bayerische Landesanstalt für Weinbau und Gartenbau, Fachzentrum Bienen: Biologie der Bienen (Entwicklungszeiten Ei, Larve, Puppe für Königin, Arbeiterin und Drohn)
- Bienen und mehr: Vom Ei zur Biene (Königin 16, Arbeiterin 21, Drohne 24 Tage)
- Imkerei der RWTH Aachen: Der Drohn (Entwicklungszeit 24 Tage)
- Die Honigmacher: Die Puppe (Verschließen der Zelle, vollständige Verwandlung)