The phrase “busy as a bee” is a perfect description for the worker honey bee. As the most numerous and active member of the colony, the worker honey bee is a non-reproductive female whose entire life—lasting about six weeks in the summer or up to six months in the winter—is a continuous cycle of labor. These honey bees perform every task necessary to keep the hive functioning as “one living organism,” following a strict, age-based progression of duties known as temporal polyethism.

Here is a look at the age-based career path of a worker honey bee, from newly emerged adult to lifelong forager:

The House Honey Bee (Days 1–18)
A worker honey bee begins her career the moment she emerges from her cell; a life of duty already set in motion. This initial period is spent exclusively inside the hive, performing critical maintenance and nurturing tasks.

Cell cleaning and nursing 
Immediately after hatching, the worker honey bee’s first job is cell cleaning, preparing her own birth cell and surrounding cells for the queen honey bee to lay the next batch of eggs.

Within a few days, she advances to become a nurse honey bee, tending to the developing brood. This involves:

• Feeding Larvae: Nurse bees feed larvae up to 100 times a day and cap off brood cells when the larvae begin to pupate.
• Queen Tending: If selected due to her good work ethic, house honey bee may become a queen attendant, responsible for the constant grooming, feeding and cleaning required by the queen honey bee as she continues her rapid egg-laying.

Maintenance and construction
As the worker honey bee matures, she branches out into more physically demanding and complex roles:

• Comb Building and Capping: Worker honey bees develop wax glands and use wax production to build new honeycomb and cap cells containing honey or pupating larvae.
• Food Handling and Storage: The worker honey bee also assists with storing incoming nectar and pollen, strategically placing resources around the brood nest for easy access.
• Thermal Regulation and Ventilation: A critically important task for the colony’s survival is maintaining the hive’s internal temperature at a necessary 93 degrees. Worker honey bees achieve this through thermal regulation, using their wings to fan against water droplets to cool the hive or shivering to generate heat in colder months.

The Field Honey Bee (Days 18–45+)
As the worker honey bee approaches the end of her second week, her physiology changes, and she transitions to tasks outside the hive.

Guard Duty 
The aging worker honey bee becomes a guard bee, stationed at the hive entrance to protect the colony against threats. This is when her stinger becomes a final, one-time defense mechanism.

Foraging 
The final and most resource-intensive job is foraging, depending on hive need. Having developed the necessary wing muscles, the forager honey bee leaves the hive to travel great distances in search of:

• Nectar: The carbohydrate source for making honey, which is the hive’s energy source.
• Pollen: The protein source necessary for feeding the brood.
• Water: Essential for cooling the hive.
• Propolis: A resinous “bee glue” used to seal cracks and varnish internal walls.

In addition to resource collection, seasoned workers may assist with hygiene tasks like removing dead honey bees or debris.

Nate’s Hives only harvests honey when the hive makes excess in a honey super. When a hive makes excess honey, beekeepers call this a “good flow.” Honey stored within the hive is always left for the bees to eat. However, the worker honey bee’s life is one of unwavering purpose and tireless devotion. She feeds, builds, guards and flies—all so her colony can thrive. Weeks of relentless effort go into creating the honey that sustains her queen honey bee and sisters. The unsung hero of Nate’s Honey, she truly lives up to her name as the busiest of all bees.