How old can bees get?

At most a year. Newly-mated queens hatched in late summer will hibernate through the winter to start the next season's colonies. All others will die as the cold weather comes.

A honey bee queen usually lives for three to five years.

Drones (males) can live for up to about four months, but will die after mating at any age, and at the end of summer all drones will be thrown out of the hive by the workers and will die.

Worker bees (all female). Honey bees don't hibernate, but won't fly from the hive if it is too cold. Workers that stay in the hive over winter can live for four to six months, but workers that go out to forage in the summer will usually only live about six weeks. Basically, a foraging bee wears itself out.