How long does a bee larva to pupate?

Answer 1

A honey bee egg hatches into a larva three days after the queen lays it. The larva then feeds and grows in an open cell for a further five days (61/2 days for a drone) during which time it moults four times. After this period the bees cap the cell with a mixture of wax and pollen (which allows air though) and the larva moults one more time then pupates. A queen bee emerges after a further eight days; a worker after 13 days; and a drone 141/2 days after the cell is capped. This gives a total development time from egg to adult of 16 days for a queen, 21 days for a worker, and 24 days for a drone.

Answer 2

This answer is slightly complicated because it depends on whether the pupa is developing into a worker bee, a drone, or a queen. From egg to adult, for a honey bee, the times are:
The queen lays the egg (day 0). The egg hatches into a larva (day 3 for all). The larva feeds and grows, shedding its skin four times after which the worker bees cap the cell with a mixture of wax and pollen (worker day 9, drone day 10, queen day 8). The capped larva is now more properly called a pre-pupa. It finishes off the food it has in the cell then moults one more time, spins a cocoon inside the cell and becomes a pupa (worker day 12½, drone day 14, queen day 9½). The bee undergoes a complete metamorphosis into an adult then moults the cocoon (worker day 20, drone day 22½, queen day 15). It then rests for a short time before the final stage where it nibbles through the wax capping of the cell and emerges as an adult (worker day 21, drone day 24, queen day 16).

Answer 3

5 days