Nurse bee
A young worker feeding larvae, at the age when her brood-food glands are at peak output.
Bees
Definition
Workers of roughly three to ten days old feed the brood, visiting a larva over a thousand times a day. They secrete brood food from hypopharyngeal glands in the head, converting stored pollen into what larvae actually eat. The job ends as the glands decline, and it can be resumed if a colony loses its nurses.
See also
Other bees terms
Sources
Sources
- The Biology of the Honey Bee — Harvard University Press (1987) · Textbook
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