Séancc du Irr }rars Wlß 29 



plus virgin (|iietMis. I ha\(' i'eponfedly observed Ilia! :is 

 soon as one of Ihc (|iiec'ns lias hrcn nialed and has rc- 

 lurncd lo tlu' hive, llic woi'kcrs eject llie \ir_i^iii (jneens 

 and prevent Iheir i-eluriiiiiL;, llms lulling in Ihe same 

 way as they do (irones. 



Fertilised ([ueens are h'd by the workers in all 

 breeds, virgin (jueens I'vvd Iheniselves. It is easy lo gel 

 a iiive ol" liigyplian iiees to lake care ol'and to feed any 

 "reserve" queens one may iiave, by plaeing Ihem sepa- 

 rately in wire gauze cages al Ihe lop of the hive. I have 

 kepi reserve queens alive lor weeks in this way in a 

 hive which had its own fertile (pieen. 



Should the queen ol" a hive die for any reason, liie 

 workers immediately start rearing new (jueens. For this 

 ])urp()se liiey re(|uire either eggs or larvae under three 

 days old. Queen cells are normally jiroduccd at Ihe edge 

 ola comb. The Fgyplian bee in addition often jiroduces 

 (jucen cells on bracket combs projecling from the sur- 

 face of a brood comb. These bracket combs are produced 

 in advance of i-ecjuirenients, and very often contain eggs, 

 which not being lecjuiied are lefl unallended, Ihe larvae 

 not being reared. 



Should the (jueen die at a lime when there are no 

 eggs or no young brood in Ihe hive, one or more of Ihe 

 workers is induced to lay, being fed and treated as a 

 ((ueen by the other workers. This appears to happen 

 more freely with Egyptian Ihaii with European bees. A 

 laying worker is very hard to lind, as it differs very 

 little from the others. But it is very easy to see when a 

 hive has a laying worker, because she lays more I ban 

 once, fre(pienlly as many as se\en or eighl eggs in each 

 celLl^'urlher, all Ihe laivae di'\i'lopiiig from bei' eggs are 



