A honey bee egg hatches into a larva three days after the queen lays it. The larva then feeds and grows in an open cell for a further five days (61/2 days for a drone) during which time it moults four times. After this period the bees cap the cell with a mixture of wax and pollen (which allows air though) and the larva moults one more time then pupates. A queen bee emerges after a further eight days; a worker after 13 days; and a drone 141/2 days after the cell is capped. This gives a total development time from egg to adult of 16 days for a queen, 21 days for a worker, and 24 days for a drone.
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