The first requirement for managing a colony is knowing the three individuals inside it and what each does. Almost every decision in beekeeping rests on this biology.

Three individuals

• The queen: The colony's only reproducing female. She lays the eggs and holds the colony together with her pheromone
• The worker: A non-reproducing female. She does all the work
• The drone: His only function is mating. He does no work in the hive

Queen and worker come from the same egg

The only thing that creates the difference is feeding. A larva fed continuously on royal jelly becomes a queen.

This is the fact on which the whole logic of queen rearing rests. It also explains why the age of the larva matters so much: a larva grafted late produces a queen with characteristics closer to a worker.

Development times

• The queen develops fastest
• The worker emerges in about three weeks
• The drone takes the longest

The longer sealed period of drone brood explains why Varroa prefers it: the mite can raise more offspring.

Age-related tasks of the worker

A worker does different work according to her age. Roughly in order:

• Cell cleaning
• Brood care — the brood food glands work at this stage
• Comb building — the wax glands work at this stage
• Storing and ventilating
• Guarding
• Foraging

The order is not fixed; it flexes with the colony's needs.

The winter bee

A summer bee lives for weeks, a winter bee for months. What creates the difference is a well-developed fat body.

Varroa feeds on precisely that tissue. This is where the reason that the late-summer mite load determines the winter becomes clear.