A honeybee colony is one super-organism built from three castes: one queen (reproduction), thousands of female workers (all colony labor), and a few hundred male drones (mating only). Brood develops through egg → larva → pupa → adult inside hexagonal wax cells.
colony ≈ 1 queen + (5,000-60,000) workers + (0-500) drones
egg(3d) → larva(6d) → pupa(12d) → adult
worker : drone ratio shifts with season (drones peak in spring/summer)
- Colony population — total bee count; scales how many workers/drones are rendered flying around the hive.
- Season — winter colonies shrink and expel drones; summer colonies are at peak population with active foraging and brood-rearing.
- Caste focus buttons — isolate workers or drones in the visualization, or show all castes together with the queen at the comb center.
- Advance Brood Cycle — steps the comb cells through egg/larva/pupa/adult stages so you can see development timing.
Real application: beekeepers inspect brood patterns and caste ratios exactly like this to judge queen health and colony strength before winter.