Worker
Foraging worker bees collect both nectar and pollen
to help feed the colony.
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Worker bees are all female and make up about 85 percent of
nest bees. They have three life stages, during which they have
specific roles to fill. Young workers (1 to 12 days old) clean
cells, nurse the brood, and tend the queen. Middle-aged
workers (12 to 20 days old) build the comb, store nectar and
pollen brought by forager bees, and ventilate the nest (see
temperature). Older workers (20 days to 30 days or more, the rough life
expectancy of a honeybee), are primarily foragers who supply
nectar and provide the enzymes needed for converting it to
honey. Flying at a speed of about 15 miles per hour, each can
travel more than three and a half miles from home on a single
flight. Bee researcher Thomas Seeley has likened this
capability to a five-foot-tall person "flying" 375 miles, the
distance from Boston to Washington, or from Berlin to
Zürich.
Veteran worker bees, those older than 20 days, spend
most of their time foraging for nectar and pollen.
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Photos: (1) ©1998 ORF; (2) Maureen Dolan.
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