Sauder Village has a beekeeper, Gail, and two beehives. Gail enjoys taking care of our honeybees and keeps a close eye on them to make sure they stay healthy all year. As spring approaches and the weather warms the queen bee will begin to lay eggs. Today, we will share with you the life cycle of the honeybee.

The Egg Phase -The queen spends her life laying eggs. She lays around 2,000 per day during spring and all of summer. Gail thinks the honeybee eggs look like little grains of rice!

The Larvae Phase - After 3 days, eggs hatch into worker larvae. During this stage, each larva will be fed about 1300 times a day! They are fed by worker bees that have the specific task of tending the brood, and are referred to as ‘brood nurses’. Before transitioning into a pupa, worker bees will use wax to cap the cell containing the larvae.

The Pupa Phase - After about 6 days, the egg cells are capped, and each larva spins itself a cocoon and becomes a pupa.

The Adult Phase - Worker bees take 10 days to emerge from pupae. The lifespan of the worker honeybee usually is only about six weeks during honey production season. The worker honeybees do all the work in the hive – foraging for food, feeding the larvae, storing nectar and producing honey!

Here's your chance to show what you've learned! Using the worksheet, color the pictures and match the life cycle of the honeybee. Click this link to download the worksheet: Honeybee-LifeCycle

WIN! WIN! WIN! Color the pictures, match the lifecycle of the honeybee and then post a photo of your finished worksheet for a chance to win a free admission ticket to Sauder Village. (deadline to post is Saturday, April 11 at 10 AM).  Worksheet photos can be posted as a comment on the Honeybee Lifecycle post on our Facebook or Instagram pages, or sent via e-mail to Kim at kmkrieger@saudervillage.org 

We look forward to having you join us this summer to learn even more about honey bees at our Garden Shed at Sauder Village!