Bees are members of the insect order Hymenoptera. Wasps and ants are also members of this order. All of these insects develop in a four-stage process. The stages are Egg, Larva, Pupa, and Adult. Scientists call this process complete metamorphosis. This means that the insect's body changes form as it develops into an adult.
Honeybees and bumblebees are social insects. They live in colonies with a queen and workers. The workers gather food, feed the immature bees, and build the nest while the queen produces eggs.
Other types of bees are solitary insects. This means that each female bee works alone making a nest, producing eggs, and providing food for the immature bees.
Honeybee queens can produce more than 1,000 eggs per day. The queen places each egg in a cell of the comb. As she produces an egg, the queen can determine the caste of the bee that will develop. If the queen fertilizes the egg, it will develop into a female bee – a queen or a worker. If the egg is unfertilized, it will develop into a male bee.
In contrast, the female carpenter bee produces one egg per day. She places each egg in a chamber that she has excavated in wood. She places a small pile of pollen and nectar beside the egg, and then seals the chamber. She builds several chambers side-by-side in a tunnel. When the last chamber is finished, the female bee seals it and leaves.
When a bee egg hatches, the bee is in the larva stage. When the honeybee egg hatches, workers begin to bring food for the larva. The larva is a white, grub-like insect. As the larva grows, it sheds its skin. This shedding process is called molting. Bee larvae normally molt about four times. The larva stage takes one or two weeks.
When the honeybee larva is ready to change into an adult bee, the workers close the cell where it has been developing. The larva changes into an adult bee inside the cell. The changing process is called the pupa stage of the bee's life. The pupa stage only takes a few days.
When the adult bee emerges from the pupa stage, it goes to work in the nest. Its duties include caring for the immature bees and maintaining the nest. As the worker ages, it becomes a forager. As a forager, the worker's job is to go out and find pollen and nectar for the colony. During the summer, honeybee workers live about two months. Workers that develop in the fall spend the winter in the hive.