Читать книгу Beekeeping For Dummies - Howland Blackiston - Страница 67

Three days after the queen lays the egg, it hatches into a larva (the plural is larvae). Healthy larvae are glistening and snowy white and resemble small grubs curled like the letter C in the cells (see Figure 2-12). Tiny at first, the larvae grow quickly, shedding their skin five times. These helpless little creatures have voracious appetites, consuming meals 24 hours a day. The nurse bees first feed the larvae royal jelly, and later they’re weaned to a mixture of honey and pollen (sometimes referred to as bee bread). Within just five days, they are 1,500 times larger than their original size. At this time the worker bees seal the larvae in the cell with a porous capping of tan beeswax. Once sealed in, the larvae spin a cocoon around their bodies.

Courtesy of John Clayton

FIGURE 2-12: Beautiful, pearly white little larvae curled up in their cells.