Day 1: The queen lays an egg. Whether or not she fertilizes it is determined by the cell size that the workers have made.
Days 1-7: The nurse bees immediately start to generate royal jelly. Hatching eggs are fed this for 3 days. After 3 days, all larvae other than those destined to become queens are switched to a diet of bee bread (a mixture of pollen and honey).
8 days after a queen lays an egg in an empty cell, the larvae is ready to enter the pupa pupal stage. The nurse bees will sense that the larvae is ready to cap by the pheromones given of by the developing larvae. The sex of the future hatchling was determined by the Queen when she chose whether or not to fertilize the egg. Fertilized eggs will become a female worker, or possibly a new queen as determined by the nurse bees. Eggs not fertilized mature to be drones.
12 days after being capped, a mature female will emerge from her cell. Drones will emerge 15 days after being capped. Queens will emerge 8 days after being capped.
Immediately after emerging, young bees will spend their first day drying out and preparing their wings for flight.
On day 2, female workers will automatically assume the role of nurse bees, tending to newly laid eggs and developing larvae. They will continue in this role for approximately 2 weeks.
After the nurse period, young females will assume the role of hive workers. Their duties are building new comb, and transporting and storing honey and pollen brought in by the foragers. A few workers will assume special roles as hive guard bees or mortician bees.
The final stage for workers is to leave the hive for their first orientation flight. once they have ‘set their GPS’, they will fly off in search of pollen and nectar. They will continue in the role until they die.
