46 



weeks of this labor, it dies from the wear and tear of Hfe. This 

 generally happens out in the field, when, under a full load of honey, 

 it is too feeble to reach home ; or its career may be cut short by the toad 

 that lives under the hive, or by the kingbird, or its feet may be stuck fast 

 in the gummy pollen of the milkweed. But in winter and spring they 

 live eight or nine months. 



The drone or male eggs are laid in cells a third larger than the 

 worker cells and, when capped over, are much longer. The drones are 

 bulky and have the proportions and habits of the alderman of tradition. 

 They fly about in the middle of the day to sharpen their appetites, and 

 when in the hive, do little but gobble and sip honey. They can neither 

 sting nor collect food. Howev'er, when food does not come in rapidly, 

 they are bundled out of the hive ; often a wing is torn off and they are 

 given a hint to go. This happens every fall and, at that time, the drones 

 will be found all by themselves on the outside combs, hiding from their 

 termagant sisters, after the manner of men in house-cleaning time. 

 When expelled, they are often found in some warm place like a hot-house. 



The queen, curiously enough, is 

 hatched from a worker egg, and is often 

 developed from a worker maggot. 

 When bees wish to rear a new queen, 

 they choose three adjacent worker cells, 

 cut out the partition walls, and throw 

 them into one. The cell is turned 

 downward and looks very much like a 

 peanut. Two of the worker maggots 

 are destroyed and the third is supplied 

 with about half a thimblefull of very 

 strong food, called royal jelly. The 

 worker grub, two or three days old, is 

 to be changed into a queen. Some- 

 times when worker eggs or maggots 

 cannot be found, bees will, without giving up hope, try to rear one from 

 a drone grub, which, however, dies from the strong food. Two days 

 feeding on this food, alters her color, curves her sting, doubles her size, 

 deprives her of wax pockets, lengthens her life to three or four years, 

 and reverses all her instincts. When she leaves the cell in which she 

 has lain head downwards, she takes a sip from an uncapped cell ; and 

 then runs around and stretches her legs. She hunts for other queen cells 

 of which there are about a dozen. If the workers permit her, she tears 

 a hole in the side of the cell and stings the inmates because queens will 

 not tolerate a rival. If another queen is found they fight, the workers 

 standing around, and not interfering. Queens very often are afraid to 

 leave their cells ; and in that case they pipe — making a plaintive cry, a 

 sort of " peep, peep," that may be heard several yards from the hive. 



If nectar and pollen are coming in in large quantities, the queen will 

 sometimes lay two or three thousand eggs a day, producing during her 

 lifetime between a million and a million and a half. The hive, of 

 course, becomes overstocked by the amazing fertility of the queen ; 



Fig. 56. — The queen and her retinue. 



