Honey bee life cycle lay fertilized or unfertilized eggs. Each unfertilized egg contains a unique combination of 50% of the queen's genes and develops into a haploid drone. The fertilized eggs develop into either diploid workers or virgin queens if fed royal jelly. The average lifespan of a queen is three to four years; drones usually die upon mating or are expelled from the hive before the winter; and workers may live for a few weeks in the summer and several months in areas with an extended winter. The weight progression of the worker egg, larva: Honey bee life cycle The honey bee life
Honey Bee Genome Sequencing Consortium genes for immunity, detoxification and the development of the cuticula The population genetic analysis showed Africa as the origin and hypothesized that the spread into Europe happened in at least two independent waves. Data from the scientific collaboration is made available on Beebase led by Texas A&M University. BeeSpace led by the University of Illinois is an effort to complete a web navigable catalog of related information. Honey Bee Genome Sequencing Consortium The Honey Bee Genome Sequencing Consortium is an international collaborative group of genomics scientists, scientific organisations and universities trying to decipher the genome sequences of the honey bee