A SELF-SUPPORTING HOME 



food; next in quality come the workers; 

 then the drones. At the end of six days, 

 the cells are capped over by workers with 

 a paper-like surface, and the well-fed, worm- 

 like occupant is left for eleven or twelve 

 days, during which time it develops shape 

 and strength to gnaw its way out. After the 

 six or seven days of nursing duty, come six 

 or seven days of building combs and clean- 

 ing the hive; and then, being strong enough, 

 the worker commences gathering honey, a 

 task so arduous during the summer that 

 her life terminates within three months. 



The first young queen to issue from her 

 cell after the old queen's abdication becomes 

 the reigning sovereign, maintaining her right 

 by might, tearing down all queen cells, and 

 killing any young princesses who are making 

 their entry into existence. For about a week 

 she marches around, monarch of all she sur- 

 veys, exempt from all toil or duty; then she 

 issues from the hive, takes a few circles about, 

 and returns. Probably on the same day, or 



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