HYMENOPTERA. 



675 



pointed body. She is developed in a cell which differs 

 greatly from the ordi- 

 nary hexagonal cell of 

 honeycomb. This cell 

 is large, cylindrical, and 

 extends vertically. In 

 Figure 797 the begin- 

 nings of two queen- 

 cells are represented on 

 the lower edge of the 

 comb, and a completed 



Cell extends Over th* 3 FIG. 797. Comb of the Honey-bee, with queen-cells. 



face of the comb near the left side. From the lower end 

 of this cell hangs a lid, which was cut away by the workers 

 to allow the queen to emerge. 



The larv.e that are to develop into either workers or 

 drones, and which are contained in hexagonal, horizontal 

 cells, are fed with honey and bee-bread. But the occupant 

 of a queen-cell is furnished with very different food a sub- 

 stance called by bee-keepers royal jelly. This royal jelly is 

 a substance which resembles blanc-mange in color and con- 

 sistency. It is excreted from the mouth by the workers, 

 and is a very nutritious food. 



It has been demonstrated that in the egg state there is 

 no difference between a worker and a queen. When the 

 workers wish to develop a queen they tear down the parti- 

 tions between three adjacent cells containing eggs that 

 under ordinary conditions would develop into workers. 

 Then they destroy two of the eggs, and build a queen-cell 

 over the third. When the egg hatches they feed the larva 

 with royal jelly, and it develops into a queen. 



In early summer several queen-cells are provided in each 

 colony ; as soon as a queen is developed from one of these 

 the old queen attempts to destroy her. But the young 

 queen is guarded by the workers, and then the old queen 



