QUEENS. 



360 



QUEENS. 



since, and now call 



QUEKN-KEAKING. 



it " s'l'iiftinff/" See 



AVIIAT BECOMES OF THE tiUEEN AFTEK SHE 

 LEAVES THE CELLV 



W'e can tell you, by personal observation, 

 pretty nearly what a queen does after she 

 pushes open that hinged door, which you 



A FJKAME FROM A COL.ONY THAT "WAS PREPARING TO SWARM. 



The combs had been spaced alittle too far apart, and this gave the bees an 



excellent opportunity to build queen-cells. 



where queens are wanted for other piuposes, 

 she has nothing to do but to promenade 

 over the premises, monarcli of all she sur- 

 veys. If she ever sits down to take a rest, 

 or takes a rest in any other position, during 

 the first week of her life, we have never 

 been able to discover it. 

 But suppose she does find another cell— 

 what then? Well, 

 she sometimes runs 

 •iroiuid it a while ; 

 sometimes the bees 

 tear it down, and 

 sometimes she tears 

 it down herself, with 

 the same strong man- 

 dibles that she used 

 to cut her way out of 

 the cell at first. She 

 usually makes the 

 opening in the side 

 of the cell, as shown 

 at E in cut on page 



Now, it is said that 

 the queen immedi- 

 ately stings her help- 

 less immature sister 

 to make a sure thing 

 of her destruction ; 

 but of this we are not 

 certain, for we never 

 have caught her in 

 the act. We have 

 seen spots in the side 

 of the queen that 



will tind illustrated under the 

 head of Queen-rearing. She 

 generally begins by poking her 

 head into the cells until she finds 

 one containing unsealed honey, 

 from which she takes a sup that, 

 at least, indicates she likes that 

 kind of provision. 



After she has had her supper 

 she begins to crawl about, partly 

 to enjoy using the long strong 

 legs God has given her, and part- 

 ly because she knows that it is 

 her allotted task to tear down the 

 remaining queen-cells, if such 

 there are. If other queens have 

 hatched before her, it is one of 

 her first and foremost duties to 

 look them up, and either reign 

 supreme or die in the attempt. 

 When all other cells have been 

 removed, as they usually are 



NATURAL yUEEN-CELLS AT DIFFERENT .STAGES. 



[The capped cell on the left has been detached from the comb, 

 and is ready to give to a colony; cell in tliecenter, five or six days 

 old, has been shaved down lo show the queen larva just before 

 it is ready to stretch out lengtliwise of the cell; cell on the right 

 shows the mouth of a cell just before capi^ing.] 



