What is the lifespan of a bee depends on type of bee, caste, and time of year, with workers living shorter and queens living much longer. For honeybees, worker bees that forage, build comb, and defend hive live about 6 weeks in summer due to hard work and wing wear, with lifespan shorter in foraging season and longer in winter, where winter worker bees that are born in fall live 4 to 6 months to help colony survive winter by keeping hive warm. Drone bees, males that mate with queen, live about 8 weeks and die after mating or are expelled from hive in fall. Queen honeybee lives much longer, 2 to 5 years, sometimes up to 7 years, as she is fed royal jelly and her role is to lay eggs, and she is protected by workers. For bumblebees, workers live few weeks to couple months in summer, queens live about year, with fertilized queens overwintering and starting new colony in spring, living about 12 months total. Solitary bees like mason bees and leafcutter bees live few weeks to few months as adults, but lifecycle includes egg, larva, and pupa stages that overwinter, with adult lifespan short focused on mating and provisioning nests. So bee lifespan varies, workers weeks to months, queens years, with colony being annual for bumblebees and perennial for honeybees.
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