Bees are holometabolous insects, meaning they go through complete metamorphosis. They live in social colonies made up of three types of bees: the queen, worker bees, and drones (male bees). Even during the larval stage, these different types are treated differently by the colony—especially when it comes to food. Let’s take a closer look at what bee larvae eat:
1. What Do Queen Bee Larvae Eat?
Queen bee larvae are fed royal jelly. Queens are raised from fertilized eggs laid in specially constructed queen cells. Worker bees take extra care of these developing queens, feeding them royal jelly from the time the egg hatches until pupation. Royal jelly is a milky-white substance secreted by the hypopharyngeal glands of young nurse bees. It plays a key role in the development of female reproductive organs. Because queens consume royal jelly throughout their lives, they develop full reproductive capabilities and can live 4 to 5 years.
2. What Do Worker Bee Larvae Eat?
Worker bee larvae are fed pollen, nectar, and honey. They are given royal jelly only during the first few days of their larval stage. After that, their diet is switched to regular food such as honey and pollen, which limits their reproductive development and results in them becoming worker bees. Interestingly, if these same larvae were continuously fed royal jelly, they could develop into queens. That’s exactly what happens when a colony loses its queen—worker bees will convert a regular worker larva into a new queen by placing it in a queen cell and feeding it only royal jelly.
3. What Do Drone (Male Bee) Larvae Eat?
Drone larvae are also fed pollen, nectar, and honey. They develop from unfertilized eggs laid by the queen and are raised in larger drone cells. Worker bees feed drone larvae well, and their food intake is 1 to 2 times greater than that of worker larvae. Sometimes worker bees may also lay unfertilized eggs, but any drones hatched from these eggs tend to be smaller. To maintain her dominance, the queen often eats the unfertilized eggs laid by workers.
4. How Long Until Bee Larvae Emerge as Adults?
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Queen Bee:
A fertilized egg is laid in a queen cell by the old queen. After 3 days, the egg hatches into a larva. After 5 days, the cell is sealed, and the larva pupates. The new queen emerges 8 days later by chewing her way out of the sealed cell. -
Worker Bee:
A fertilized egg is laid in a regular worker cell. It hatches into a larva after 3 days, is fed for 6 days, and then the cell is capped. After 12 more days, it emerges as an adult worker. Once the worker bee is around 3 weeks old, it begins foraging outside the hive. -
Drone Bee:
An unfertilized egg hatches into a larva in 3 days. The larva is fed for 7 days before its cell is capped. After 13 more days, the adult drone emerges. It takes 6 to 7 more days before it can fly and 12 days to reach sexual maturity. Drones are ready to mate around 15 days after emerging.
