# how long can 1 day old eggs stay out of the hive



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Bees need to put brood food in the cell so it has something to eat when the egg becomes a larvae, so if they aren't dead already they will be soon because they will starve.


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## tomkat (Apr 27, 2014)

Thanks that what I thought!


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

Actually they'll dry out and perish, way before they'll need food.

If you took a grain of cooked rice and left it exposed to air, it would soon dry out and become hard again, honey bee eggs are much smaller than grains of rice, hence they will desiccate much more quickly than even the grains of rice. The nurse/house bees regulate the brood nest environment, such that relative humidity is close to 100%, which protects the eggs and brood from drying out, and allows them to thrive and grow.


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## beesohappy (Jun 3, 2009)

So in terms of minute or hours how long would they be OK for at 80 degrees?


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

That depends on several factors, not just the ambient temperature. Important factors such as the relative humidity, wind speed, exposure to sunlight or shade, etc.

Here, where the daytime temps are around 100F, or a little more, while the sun is out. And the relative humidity is usually in single digits, at the same time. I sometimes have combs, with eggs, out of the hive for 10-15 minutes. So far, most of those eggs have survived their exposure, but I haven't really tested them to see how much exposure it takes to kill them. I'm doing my best not to kill them.


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## beesohappy (Jun 3, 2009)

> I'm doing my best not to kill them.


Me to! I was curious because from my understanding when you graft queen cells with fresh eggs people pull the frame out of the hive and take them to where their doing the graft. I think right?

Also, I'm not trying to hijack your thread ( I don't even know what that means but I've seen people get reprimanded for it) I'm just trying to figure it out a little deeper.

Thank you for your help.


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## cristianNiculae (Jul 2, 2013)

In my little experience they "died" in less then an hour. I think this is the most fragile of all stages.


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## challenger (May 27, 2009)

I'm not sure either but I would say the humidity more than temperature hence the wet towel needed to cover frames of larvae and grafted cell cups etc. Interesting question though. I wonder if misting eggs/larvae with water would be of any help.


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## CtyAcres (Apr 8, 2012)

tomcat- Larvae away from bees does not grow, therefore that comb put back a day or so later into the hive, could
have some of the eggs rejuvenated.


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

beesohappy said:


> Me to! I was curious because from my understanding when you graft queen cells with fresh eggs people pull the frame out of the hive and take them to where their doing the graft. I think right?
> 
> Also, I'm not trying to hijack your thread ( I don't even know what that means but I've seen people get reprimanded for it) I'm just trying to figure it out a little deeper.
> 
> Thank you for your help.


When I graft, to raise cultivated queens, I use newly hatched larva, all other queen producers I am aware of, graft larva also. I have heard others discuss their attempts to use eggs, vs larva, but the bottom line was always total failure.

I also, most usually, graft immediately adjacent to the mother queen colony, where I have pulled the frame of grafting age larva. That way I can immediately return the frame to its brood nest, as soon as I finish grafting from it.

Newly hatched larva are possibly even more fragile than even eggs.


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