Okay, I finally have it straight.
Here’s the beginning of the life cycle of a bee:
3 days as an egg
6 days as a larva
12 days as a pupa
When I check my hives and see eggs present, it means that there was a queen present at least 3 days ago. That’s a good thing to know if I can’t find the queen – and believe me, she’s very good at hiding.
In the first three days, there’s nothing too much for the nurse bees to do, but as soon as the egg hatches, they start feeding that little critter. After six days, the big bees put a cap of brownish wax over the cell, and wait twelve days for the creature inside to mature into a worker bee, at which point the baby bee starts the next six weeks of her very productive by taking an orienting flight (see yesterday’s blog post).
I know I’ve written about all this before, way back when I was starting this blog and reading everything I could about honey bees, but NOW, now that I’m able to see the workings of the hive, it’s all making a lot more sense.
I wish you could join me in a hive check sometime.
BEEattitude for Day # 209:
Blessed are those who read, for that reading shall start them on a lifetime of adventure.
p.s. I'm supposed to be a guest of Maggie Bishop's on the Dames of Dialogue website today. I don't know when it will be posted, but give it a try. Here's the link:
http://http://wp.me/ptCd3-1l6
p.s. I'm supposed to be a guest of Maggie Bishop's on the Dames of Dialogue website today. I don't know when it will be posted, but give it a try. Here's the link:
http://http://wp.me/ptCd3-1l6
my books: http://www.franstewart.com
my ebooks on Amazon for Kindle:
my ebooks on Smashwords (for all other formats): http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/FranStewart
