SOCIAL LIFE 



77 



Should a newly hatched queen discover another queen 

 cell, if not prevented hy the worker bees she will imme- 

 diately tear open and kill the young queen found therein. 

 The Drone. - The drone is developed from the unfer- 

 tilized eggs, placed in cells >omewhat larger than worker 



FIG. 61. A drone bee. X 2. 



cells. These develop in nix nit twenty-four days, remain- 

 ing three in the egg, six in the larval, and fifteen in the 

 pupal stage. These are reared in large numbers during 

 the swarming season, in order that the fertility of all 

 queens may be assured. The drone, as is generally 

 known, is the male, and has no tools for collecting- 

 honey or gathering pollen, and is therefore, after the 

 swarming season, looked upon as a useless member of 

 society, only to be stung out of the hive. This the 

 worker bees hasten to do as soon as his period of use- 

 fulness is past. 



The Worker. - The worker is the bee familiar to all 

 of us ; the one respected for its business air as well as 

 its powers of defense. Workers mature in about twenty- 

 one days, spent in the following stages: three days in 

 the egg state, five in the larval state, and thirteen 



