DEVELOPMENT MODELS
3D PRINTED AND HAND PAINTED IN TASMANIA, AUSTRLIA
Our 3d-printed Honeybee Development Models are made from Polylactic Acid (PLA), an environmentally friendly plastic. PLA is a biodegradable and bioactive polyester typically made from fermented plant starch such as corn or sugarcane.
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Each frame takes approximately twenty hours to print, and the grubs take an additional four hours. Once the grubs are printed, they are carefully hand-painted with nontoxic acrylic paints. Painting a set of worker grubs takes approximately two hours in total. Being hand-painted, you may notice slight variations between each model purchased.
Honeybee Development Model
- Worker
A honeybee queen lays her eggs in hexagonal wax cells, each about the size of a grain of rice. These eggs initially stand upright but fall to the side within a few days. After three days, the eggs hatch into larvae that look like small white grubs and are fed by young worker nurse bees with worker jelly. As they grow, larvae moult and the cells are sealed after about nine days. The larvae then spin cocoons to pupate and develop into recognisable bees. Eventually, a young adult worker bee emerges by chewing through the wax cap. The entire process from egg to new worker bee takes approximately 21 days. ​
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Cost: $150
plus postage and handling
Honeybee Development Model
- Queen
A honeybee queen lays her eggs in hexagonal wax cells, each about the size of a grain of rice. These eggs initially stand upright but fall to the side within a few days. After three days, the eggs hatch into larvae that look like small white grubs and are fed by young worker nurse bees with royal jelly. A developing queen cannot fit in a normal brood cell. She must have more room. Therefore, a queen cell is noticeably elongated, positioned on the face of the comb (supersedure or emergency cells) or at the bottom of a frame (swarm cells). As the larva grows, it moults (sheds its outer skin) several times. The cell is covered with wax after about 7 days. The larvae then spin cocoons to pupate and develop into recognisable bees. Eventually, a young adult queen bee emerges by chewing through the wax cap. The entire process from egg to new queen bee takes approximately 16 days. ​
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Cost: $150
plus postage and handling
Honeybee Development Model
- Drone
A honeybee queen lays her eggs in hexagonal wax cells, each about the size of a grain of rice. These eggs initially stand upright but fall to the side within a few days. Unfertilised eggs become male honeybees, known as Drones and are laid in larger cells known as Drone cells. After three days, the eggs hatch into larvae that look like small white grubs and are fed by young worker nurse bees with drone jelly. As they grow, larvae moult and the cells are sealed after about ten days. The larvae then spin cocoons to pupate and develop into recognisable bees. Eventually, a young adult drone bee emerges by chewing through the wax cap. The entire process from egg to new drone bee takes approximately 24 days. ​
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Cost: $150
plus postage and handling
Display Case
Display Case
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Cost: $100
plus postage and handling
