Bee Eggs
For honey bees, life begins as a tiny, unremarkable honey bee egg. These delicate structures mark the beginning of the life cycle for workers, drones and queens. Each bee egg has the potential to develop into a vital member of the colony – but there are no guarantees. In this article, we will explore the world of honey bee eggs and how they figure into colony growth and productivity.
Beekeepers need to understand all the stages of the honey bee life cycle and the process of egg-laying. Without a continuous supply of new bees during the warm season, hive survivial is at risk.
How do Bees Lay Eggs?
The primary role of the queen bee is that of a reproductive individual. She is the only female in the hive capable of mating and laying fertilized eggs.
Reproduction in honey bees involves a mating ritual where the virgin queen leaves the hive on mating flights.
Mating takes place in special drone congregation areas far away from the hive. Semen (from male bees) is stored in the queen’s abdomen in her spermatheca until needed.
Anatomy of Honey Bee Eggs
So, what do they look like? If you are imagining a smaller version of a chicken egg – prepare to be enlightened.
Appearance
Fresh honey bee eggs are pearly white in color. They appear almost translucent before changing to a creamy color. The eggshell (outer layer) is smooth and slightly curved.
Resembling grains of white rice or a bit of white thread – they are tiny – measuring 1.5 mm long and 0.2 mm wide – barely visible to the naked eye.
I often tell new beekeepers in my beginner beekeeping class you may need a magnifying glass to help see them.
Location in the Comb
Egg laying occurs in a central location inside the hive. We call this area the “brood nest”. Normally, the queen bee lays one egg in each hexagonal shaped beeswax cell.
The queen uses a special adhesive substance to anchor the egg in the bottom of the cell. Fresh eggs stand straight up but they begin to lean over during the next few days.
Lacking a true shell (as we know it) the surface of the bee egg is covered by a membrane called a chorion. This outer covering dissolves after about 3 days and now we have a new bee larva.
(Everyone I know still refers to the process as the egg hatches. Unless you are a researcher, I doubt it matters – don’t get hung up on semantics.)
Worker Eggs vs Drone Eggs
The queen bee is capable of producing two types of bee eggs: fertilized and unfertilized. Fertilized eggs become females (workers or queens) and those that are not fertilized become male bees or drone bees.
How does the queen honey bee make this decision? The needs of the colony (as well as time of year) play a role.
As an egg passes through the queen’s abdomen, she chooses whether or not to fertilize it with semen. Then, she lowers her abdomen into the wax cell and lays the egg.
The development time from egg to adult bee varies: queens need 16 days, workers need 21 days, and drones require 24 days to mature.
Common Problems with Eggs in the Hive
A healthy productive queen, is capable of laying 1,000 to 2,000 new eggs per day. This is important for the colony work force because honey bees do not live very long.
Various problems can arise in a hive that affects the egg laying process. It is important for beekeepers to be able to recognize and if possible rectify these issues.
- laying workers
- drone laying queen
- queenlessness
- environmental factors
Laying Workers
The thousands of worker honey bees in a colony are also female. If a colony loses their queen some of the worker bees may begin to lay eggs.
Because they are not capable of mating, workers can only lay unfertilized eggs that become drones. With no fertilized eggs to make a new queen, the colony will fail in a couple of months.
Drone Laying Queen
A lack of fresh bee eggs in worker cells, with a queen bee present, may be a sign of a failing queen. She is still present and laying eggs.
However, if she was poorly mated and has exhausted her store of semen – she is a drone laying queen – incapable of producing fertilized eggs.
The beekeeper must intervene and requeen the beehive or give the colony the resources for them to make a new queen.
Missing Queen
When I find a colony with zero fresh bee eggs in the comb, it is reason for concern. First, I look for the queen.
In some instances, bees will kill their queen and try to replace her. If they fail in this attempt, the colony may be doomed without intervention.
Environmental Factors
While a lack of honey bee eggs in the hive is often a “queen problem”, don’t be too quick to blame her. Consider other factors that might be affecting your bees.
Pests and disease can result in unhealthy bees that do not perform well. Also, if food is in short supply – perhaps a nectar dearth – the colony will scale back on producing brood that they can’t feed.
Beekeepers should strive to keep hives healthy and pest free. In times when nectar is lacking, feeding the bees becomes more important. This helps encourage egg laying by the queen.
Beekeepers must continue to examine the brood pattern throughout the warm season. Any signs of disease or signals of major problems must be addressed. The hive must be healthy well before the Winter months.
If there is a lack of eggs, you should consider all the factors involved. Replacing a queen, feeding for a while or even combining two hives together may be needed to solve the problem.
FAQs
Honey bee eggs are tiny objects that look like small pieces of thread or small grains of white rice.
No, worker bees can lay eggs but only unfertilized eggs. They can not mate and produce fertilized eggs that become female workers or queens.
On average, honey bee eggs hatch into larvae within around 3 days. From this point, nurse bees feed and tend to the growing young.
The outer layer of a bee egg does not crack like a hen egg. Instead it dissolves releasing the tiny larva inside.
Honey bee eggs cannot survive without the care and attention of workers. They regulate the humidity and temperature in the brood nest and provide food the new larvae.
Yes, beekeepers often transfer honey bee eggs from one hive to another. This is generally done by moving a whole frame of comb cells with eggs. Moving individual bee eggs is a delicate process.
Final Thoughts
From a beekeeper’s point of view, the presence of eggs is one of the most important indicators of colony health. White, healthy honey bee eggs are a fundamental part of the colony and are essential to the success and survival of the hive. While different than the eggs we are most familiar with, they are the first step towards a buzzing population of bees.