[Objectives]  To investigate the morphological development of the compound eyes and the temporal expression of optin genes in queen and worker bees. [Methods]  Three colonies of Apis mellifera ligustica with comparable swarming potential were selected for artificial queen breeding, and samples of queen and worker pupae and newly emerged bees were collected on each day of the pupal stage. Scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the external morphological structure of the compound eyes of developing queen and worker bees, and Image J was used to measure the short and long axes of compound eyes, their area, and the number, area and diameter of the ommatidia. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression of three opsin genes in queen and worker pupae. MRNA expression levels of UV-sensitive opsin (UVop), green opsin (Lop1) and blue-sensitive opsin (BLop), were measured. [Results]  Ommatidia had differentiated in both queen and worker bees at the end of the pupal period (before emergence). After emergence, the compound eye area of both queen and worker bees became smaller (P < 0.001), and the short axis (P < 0.05), area (P < 0.001), and number of ommatidia (P < 0.001) in the compound eyes of queen bees were less than those of worker bees. However, the area (P < 0.001) and diameter (P < 0.001) of the individual eyes of queen bees were larger than those of worker bees. The mRNA expression levels of the three optin genes in queen and worker bees increased significantly (P < 0.05) after exiting the hive compared to before exiting the hive. In the pre-pupal stage, the mRNA expression level of UVop was higher than that of Lop1 and BLop, and UVop was already expressed by worker bees in the middle and late pupal stages. The expression level of Lop1 mRNA increased significantly in the middle and late stages of pupation, surpassing that of UVop and BLop to be the most highly expressed optin gene. [Conclusion]  Queen bees have fewer ommatidia than worker bees, suggesting that worker bees have better vision than queen bees. Opsin expression patterns differed in queens and workers, mainly in the mRNA expression level of UVop in the pupal stage. The expression of opsin is related to the development of visual cells in vivo. These results provide a theoretical basis for further investigation of the development of the compound eye and photosensory system of Apis mellifera ligustica queens and workers.