Bee Colony Facts From a Nightly Hive
The text explains hive structure and roles, noting a colony ranges 30,000 to 75,000 bees with one queen laying 2,000 to 3,000 eggs daily at peak. Queens emerge in 16 days from egg, workers in 21. Drones mate with queens and are expelled after honey season. It costs about 160,000 bees to assemble one pound of honey and a bee must fly far beyond three world circumnavigations for four nectar pounds. A top super can store up to 60 pounds in a good year.