420 



next few days between 150 and 200 eggs were laid. These eggs, 

 however, all spoiled, as though they were not properly taken care 

 of. This has been the case in every other instance in which I have 

 had young queens lay eggs in the fall. This, however, may be due 

 to artificial conditions. The queens lay again in spring, about May, 

 the exact time depending upon weather conditions. The one I collected 

 April 5 and kept under natural conditions laid her first tgg May 16. 

 Some of the queens which I kept in a warm room during the winter 

 began to lay as early as the first of March. The number of young 

 produced the first season is very small as compared with the number 

 of eggs laid by the queen. In all my nests containing single queens, 

 the queen was more or less given to eating her own eggs. Some ate 

 only a few, while others ate nearly all. This was not due to lack of 

 food, as I had provided food for them. The fact that all the queens 

 ate their eggs to some extent, and the fact that the number of young 

 produced under natural conditions is so much less than the number 

 of eggs laid, lead me to believe that the queen under normal condi- 

 tions eats a certain proportion of her eggs. Possibly this habit enables 

 her to get the proper kind of food for her larvse. 



The detailed history of a few first-year colonies follows. 



COLONY 2'yb 



This queen was taken November 20, from a cell which she had 

 established a few inches beneath the surface of the ground in a corn 

 field. The room in which she was kept during the winter was a 

 greenhouse, which became quite wami (70° — 80° F.) at times; though 

 at other times the temperature fell below freezing. Keeping her in a 

 warm room accounts for the fact that she began laying so early. Aside 

 from the fact that egg-laying began much earlier, the history of this 

 colony is not different from that of others in which the queens were 

 kept under natural conditions, so that these results may be taken as 

 typical. 



The first egg was laid February 17. It disappeared February 22 

 (probably eaten) and no other was laid until February 27. 



