Brood Development Timeline
Explore the development stages of queen, worker, and drone bees from egg to adult
Visualize honey bee brood development from egg to adult. Queens emerge in 16 days, workers in 21, and drones in 24 — split across four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Pick a starting date to project capping and emergence days for inspection planning.
Tiny white egg upright in cell
Fed royal jelly, then bee bread & honey
Cell capped, metamorphosis
Emerges as fully formed worker
Queen vs Worker
The only difference between a queen and a worker is diet. Larvae fed exclusively royal jelly develop into queens — completing development in just 16 days compared to 21 for workers.
Drone development
Drones take the longest to develop (24 days) and come from unfertilised eggs. They have no father but do have a grandfather!
The egg stage
All three castes share the same 3-day egg stage. The queen lays each egg vertically in the cell; it gradually tilts over before hatching.
Capping timing
Workers cap queen cells on day 8, worker cells on day 9, and drone cells on day 10. Spotting capped cells helps identify what's developing inside.