Keeping bee colonies is a big responsibility. To provide proper care and collect large portions of tasty and healthy honey, you need to know how long bees live, the purposes of various types of insects, and their vital functions. You need to have an idea of the factors that influence the life of insects both positively and negatively.
How long do bees live on average?
It is impossible to name a specific lifespan of an insect, since this parameter depends on several factors.
The easiest way is to start from seasonality:
- worker bees bred in March live up to 35 days;
- those bred in June live up to 30 days;
- Life activity lasts 28-30 days during the honey collection period;
- Individuals bred in September-October live up to 80-100 days.
In nature, the life expectancy of wild bees is 25-30% longer than that of domestic insects. If there is no brood in the bee colony in the apiary, then the life expectancy of insects is about a year.
Factors influencing life expectancy
The life of each unit of the bee community from birth to death is divided into 4 stages (egg, larva, pupa, adult). Life expectancy is determined by various factors:
- the purpose and type of activity of the insect in the bee family (drone, worker, female);
- community fortresses (in a weak family, individuals live for a short time);
- quality of care from the beekeeper. Thanks to proper care, bees are protected from diseases and infections and winter safely;
- living conditions. For a full life of insects, it is important to use hives of the correct design, which provide comfortable living conditions in hot and cold weather;
- volume of processed products.
The number of days of life is significantly reduced in cases of lack of nutrition, especially in winter, and illness.
Lifespan
The type of activity of a bee and its role in the community also determine the life expectancy of insects.
worker bee
A young individual, up to 15-18 days old, is engaged in work around the hive (cleans honeycombs, occasionally flies out of the hive). From 18 days of age, she begins to collect nectar and pollen. On average, working (melliferous) individuals live 30-40 days in the summer.
The intensity of the honey collection process affects the lifespan.The faster workers collect the sweet product, the shorter the life expectancy. Since insects lack “gathering” activity in winter, their life expectancy increases. During the cold period, the worker bee does not collect nectar, but is engaged in caring for the offspring and keeping the hive clean.
Queen bee
Due to the fact that worker bees feed royal jelly (containing special proteins) to a specific larva, a queen later develops from it. This is a female whose main activity is laying eggs. The formation of the female from the egg to the adult uterus lasts 15-17 days.
Drones
The purpose of drones is to inseminate queens. Drone development lasts 24 days. They appear in the bee community in late May-early June. Several hundred or even thousands of drones can accumulate in a hive. Individuals reach sexual maturity in 12-14 days. During the warm part of the day, the drones mate with the female during flight. Since during the process of insemination part of the drone's reproductive organ is torn off and remains in the reproductive system of the uterus, the individual dies.
Sometimes life expectancy is extended (up to 6 months) if drones remain in colonies (in hives with unfertilized females or in colonies without queens). But overwintered drones lose the ability to fertilize queens.
Life after the bite
It is believed that bees always die after being stung due to the loss of their sting. However, this is a common misconception.Since the bite does not always end with the sting being torn off, sometimes the insects successfully pull it out of the victim’s body. There are also species of bees whose peculiarity is the growth of a new sting. But it is fair that after a bite and loss of the sting, most individuals die.
Only through knowledge about the biological cycle of development and life activity of insects, and the rules of care can the long life of bee colonies be ensured. It should be borne in mind that this is a self-rejuvenating “organism” that remains viable with the skillful care of the beekeeper.
