The Queen Bee
The queen is the largest bee in the colony. She develops more fully than the sexually immature workers because she is given what's actually called "royal jelly," a secretion from glands on the heads of young workers. She emerges from her specially constructed cell to mate with 13 to 18 drone male bees, collecting millions of sperm cells that will last her the rest of her two-to-five-year life. She's the mother of all workers bees in the hive, and, although the name might imply it, a queen has no control of the hive. Her sole function is to serve as the reproducer, laying her own weight in eggs every couple of hours up to 3,000 per day.
Drones
Male bees, called drones, are characterized by eyes that are twice as big as worker bees and queens. Drones are stingerless but fly fast, as their main function is to be ready to mate with a receptive queen in flight, Drones usually live about 90 days and, in areas with severe winters, are driven out of the hive when it gets too cold.
Worker Bees
Workers, the smallest bees in the colony, are non-reproducing females. A colony can have 50,000 to 60,000 workers. The life span of a worker bee varies according to the time of year. Her life expectancy is approximately 28 to 35 days. Workers that are reared in September and October, however, can generally live through the winter. Workers serve to feed the queen and larvae, guard the hive entrance and help to keep the hive cool by fanning their wings. Worker bees also collect nectar and produce wax comb. The comb is composed of hexagonal cells, which have walls that are only 2/1000-inch thick but support 25 times their own weight. Honey bees’ wings stroke 11,400 times per minute, thus making their distinctive buzz.
INSIDE THE HIVE
Colonies
Honey bees live in colonies that are most often maintained by beekeepers. The modern beehive is made up of a series of boxes placed on top of one another. Frames are then placed in these boxes for the bees to build up the wax honeycomb. A colony generally contains one "queen" breeding female, a few thousand male "drones" and a large population of sterile female "worker" bees.