-Larva
The larva lies coiled on the bottom of the cell. It comprises a head, thoracic and abdominal segments. The larva eats, grows bigger and sheds its skin 5 times between hatching and emerging. During the first three days the larva is fed by the nurse bees on a diet of royal jelly, a protein-rich whitish milky fluid, produced from the head glands of worker bees. After the third day, the larva is fed beebread, a mixture of honey and pollen prepared by worker bees. Nine days after hatching, the curled-up larva is fully-grown, and can’t feed any more. At this stage the cell is sealed over with a porous covering of wax and pollen, and starts to change into a pupa.