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
African Honey Bee (organization) and mentored by an African Honey Bee senior beekeeper. Prospective beekeepers from rural areas, generally between the ages of 18 – 26, spend 18 months in an incubation programme, during which time they are officially employed by the incubator as salaried working interns. During their incubation, the interns complete an African Honey Bee developed program in beekeeping. They work under guidance of senior beekeepers on an African Honey Bee commercial bee farm. The interns are also assisted to start their own beekeeping business on a small scale, with the view of increasing it once they complete the incubation process. At