268 • NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS. 



one bee for any Length of tinrie, for it soon escapes the eye 

 and is lost among the crowd, until it seems as if all were 

 in the greatest confusion and disorder. This, however, may 

 be partially avoided by marking one or more bees upon the 

 neck with a solution of sealing-wax in alcohol. 



3d. The laying of Eggs. — The Queen Bee resides in the 

 interior of the hive, between two combs, and has no other 

 business than to deposit an egg in each empty cell, which 

 is done very quickly, and principally during the months of 

 April and May. The egg is oblong, white, and fastened at 

 one end to the bottom of the cell. During the season of 

 laying the eggs the bees work with indefatigable industry 

 in order to furnish the necessary number of cells ; and so fast 

 do they accomplish their task that a comb nine inches long 

 is often built in one day, and yet, notwithstanding this ra- 

 pidity, the queen is often obliged to deposit her eggs in half- 

 finished cells. When thus occupied in discharging the grand 

 function of her life, she marches with great dignity, always 

 accompanied by a dozen or more of her subjects, like the 

 Virgin Queen with her courtiers. 



We may form some estimate of the enormous number of 

 eggs which the queen lays, from the size of a swarm which 

 leaves the parental roof in May or June. Such a swarm 

 will number about twelve thousand, and the eggs from 

 which they came were laid in the preceding months of 

 March or April ; but still the queen continues laying, and 

 we may obtain one or two more swarms from the same hive 

 during the summer. Each queen lays a few eggs from which 

 proceed queens, and from seven hundred to a thousand eggs 

 from which proceed drones, while all the rest will produce 

 working bees. 



4tk. Development of the Egg. — The egg is fastened by 

 one end to the bottom of the cell, so that it looks as if it 

 were suspended in the air. It is soft and smooth, and is 

 five times as long as it is thick. It was formerly believed 



