The worker bee is smaller than the queen and the drone.
The worker bees are female bees, but differ from the queen.
They cannot lay eggs.
There is a honey stomach in their abdomen, with which they can transport water and honey. If they are hungry or thirsty, they open a part of their stomach, so that they can absorb some honey or water themselves. They also have wax glands with which they can produce wax to build honeycombs in their hive. They furthermore have a sharp sting which they can use when under attack.
They have earned their name of “worker bees”, as they have to work really hard, especially in summer.For more information see the “Bee community” chapter. In summer, they die after only 6 weeks of exhaustion from the numerous tasks they have to fulfil.
Drones are a bit lazy and are not really useful in the hive. They like to eat the honey, but cannot eat pollen on their own.The worker bees have to feed it to them. It is these male bees who mate with the young queens. At the end of summer all drones are driven from the hive and die of hunger and thirst.