A colony of bees can contain up to 80000 individuals. In winter they are more exposed to death, and if the winter is really cold the bees can begin to die slowly. If the colony starts to lose 1200 bees per day, how many days will pass until the number of bees in the colony reaches a fourth of its initial number?
Thoughts? Step-by-step reasoning:
A fourth of the initial number of bees is 80000 bees / 4 = 20000 bees. The number of bees that has to die is 80000 bees – 20000 bees = 60000 bees. For the colony to reach a fourth of its population, 60000 bees ÷ 1200 bees / day = 50 days have to pass.
Thus, the answer is 50.