Honeybees build a hive out of wax secretions from their bodies, and queens lay their eggs in cells in the wax. The speed of subsequent development of the young is strongly affected by temperature, and is fastest at 33-36°C.

Honeybees are holometabolous insects, and have four stages in the life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult.

A. mellifera eggs hatch in 28-144 hours, depending on their temperature. The larva that emerges is a small white grub. It stays in its wax cell, growing, and is fed and groomed by adult workers. The food that a female larva receives determines whether it will be a queen or worker. At 34°C, larvae feed and grow for 4-5 days, queens for 6 days, and males for 6-7 days. At the end of that period their cell is sealed by adult workers, and the larva molts, spins a silk cocoon, and transforms into the pupa stage. Pupae undergo a massive metamorphosis that takes about 7-8 days for queens, 12 days for workers, and 14-15 days for males. Once their final metamorphosis is complete, they chew their way out of the cell and begin their adult life. They will not grow or molt after emerging. Adult workers will live for 2-4 weeks in the summer, or as long as 11 months if they live through the winter. Males only survive for 4-8 weeks, and do not live through the winter. Queens live 2-5 years.

. The next stage is the larval stage where the larva is fed the royal jelly, pollen/nectar, and honey combination. Next the larva goes into the pupae stage where it caps itself into its cell to metamorphose into the mature stage.

Queens normally take 16 days to reach maturity, the worker bees take 21 days, and the drone takes 24 days to mature.

Development - Life Cycle: metamorphosis