Margaret you made everything so easy to understand on how the hive is organized.
How soon does the worker bee start gathering nectar/pollen after it hatches?

Thank you Lynn.

The worker becomes a forager around 21 days old. The first 2 or 3 days are spent cleaning cells, the next 7 to 10 days are spent being nurses to the queen and larvae. Around 14 days old they are busy doing the other duties required to run the hive such as unloading foragers, drying moisture from honey, building and repairing was combs, guard duty and undertaker among other duties.

As I read your vivid account, I couldn't help picturing the worker bees in the uniforms of all their different professions. The funeral director bee looked the best, of course.

Oh to be that dedicated.

Absolutely fascinating Margaret! Thank you!

Zuzu Now I wonder why you think the funeral director is the best looking one?

Thank you all for the compliments.

Even though I'm in California in a fairly temperate climate (typical lowest winter temps in the 20s), do the drones die off in fall? I have a new hive in my yard that's being maintained by a beekeeper, and he hasn't come by lately. I've been seeing dead bees here and there in the garden and a few flying around the lights at night and wondered if I should call him. The bees were "bearding" on the side of the hive, but the beard is much smaller now that it's cooling off, which I assumed was because of the drop in temperatures. Should I be concerned about anything? I know he has a lot of hives to maintain and I don't want to be a "Nervous Nellie"!

You really explain all this SO well!

Janet if your daytime temperatures drop below 50 for days at a time during the winter the bees will be in a winter cluster until it is consistently above 50 again. If they go into a winter cluster then yes, the drones are expelled or killed in order to have more food for the workers and queen.

I would contact the beekeeper about the fewer numbers you are seeing and tell him about the ones flying around the light at night time. If you don't mind peeking under the outer cover to see how many bees are in there then do that before you call him. A hive going into winter needs to be as large as it possibly can be though there are some breeds of honey bees who do downsize their numbers for winter. Ask your beekeeper about the bees you have. Beekeepers love to share their knowledge to anyone willing to listen.
There is a new threat out for honey bees called Zommie Fly Parasite which makes them fly around lights at night time.

A good beekeeper will always want to know if there's a possible problem at a hive no matter how many he or she has to tend.

I'm a sucker for a well-tailored three-piece suit, Mindy, so a funeral director is always going to look better to me than a construction worker or a scout.

OK I can see her now in a suit telling her crew to dump the dead bees out.

Thanks Mindy---I'll email him today!