332 AGRICULTURE FOR COMMON SCHOOLS 



the bottom of a six-sided cell. The egg hatches in three days ; 

 the larva is fed by the nurse bees for five days; then the larva 

 turns to a pupa and remains in this condition for thirteen 

 days; and at the end of twenty-one days from the laying of 

 the egg the young bee comes out of the cell. In a couple of 

 days it is ready to begin its life work. Queen bees hatch out 



78. SHOWING QUEEN, WORKER, AND DRONE 



in about sixteen days from the laying of the egg, while for 

 drones the time is twenty-four days. 



The worker bees compose the majority of the hive. The 

 first work for the worker bee after it is developed is to act as 

 a nurse and feed the other larval bees in their cells. The food 

 consists of a kind of bee milk secreted from glands in the 

 head of the nurse. On the third day honey is added, and a 

 litde later pollen, and at the end the larva receives practically 

 nothing but pollen. After acting as a nurse for a week or 



