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
Maltese honey bee the loss of native colonies. In 1997 it was identified as a sub-species. It breeds well with the Italian sub-species making a strain that defends well against "Varroa", having a good honey yield and is less aggressive, although this is somewhat endangering the Maltese sub-species as a genetically distinct entity; however after some generations it reverts back to it's natural aggressive state. Maltese honey bee The Maltese honey bee, "Apis mellifera ruttneri", is a sub-species of the Western honey bee. It originates from Malta, where it is native. The bee is a sub-species of the Western honey bee that has