What Does Brood Look Like?

For starters, what is brood? Brood is a word to describe the egg, larva, and pupa stages of an insects life. In these stages the insect doesn't really look like an insect with 6 legs and 3 body segments (head, thorax, and abdomen). In this photo below, you can see two stages of brood. Near the bottom right you can see small white specks. They may look like rice, but they are really eggs. As they grow they start to turn and curl. That is when they become larva. Larva look like small white or cream colored worms. You can see some larva to the left in the photo.

When the larva grows large enough to fill the cell it is ready for the pupa stage. The cell is capped and the brood begins to develop into the shape  and eventually the color of a bee. In the Pupa stage the brood develops 6 legs, the head, thorax, and abdomen. In this photo you can see the larva growing to fill the cell and you can all see the capped cells. Both photos were taken by David Solovey. Thanks for the great shots.