OR, MANUAL OF THE APIARY. 109 



nature of this royal jelly. There is never undigested food fed 

 to queen or worker larvze, but the drone-larva is thus fed, as 

 the microscope shows the pollen. This peculiar food, as also 

 its use and abundance in the cell, was first described by 

 Schirach, aSaxon clergyman, who wrote a work on bees in 

 1771. It is thick, like rich cream ; slightly yellow, and so 

 abundant that the queen-larva not only floats in it during all 

 its period of growth, but quite a large amount remains after 

 her queenship vacates the cell. We sometimes find this royal 

 jelly in incomplete queen-cells, without larvae. 



What a mysterious circumstance is this : These royal 

 scions simply receive a more abundant and nutritious diet, 

 and occupy a more ample habitation — for I have more than 

 once confirmed the statement of Mr. Quinby, that the direction 

 of the cell is immaterial — and yet what a marvelous transfor- 

 mation. Not only are the ovaries developed and filled with 

 eggs, but the mouth organs, the wings, the legs, the sting, 

 aye, even the size, form, and habits, are all wondrously 

 changed. The food stimulates extra development of the 

 ovaries, and, through the law of compensation, other parts are 

 less developed. That the development of parts should be 

 accelerated, and the size increased, is not so surprising — as in 

 breeding other insects I have frequently found that kind and 

 amount of food would hasten or retard growth, and might even 

 cause a dwarfed imago — but that food should so essentially 

 modify the structure, is certainly a rare and unique circum- 

 stance, hardly to be found except here and in related 

 animals. Bevan has suggested that laying workers, while 

 larvae, have received some of this royal jelly from their posi- 

 tion near a developing queen. As the workers vary the food 

 for the several larvae, as Dr. Planta has shown, may they not 

 sometimes make a mistake and feed royal jelly to workers ? 

 Surely, in caring for so many young, this would be very par- 

 donable. L,angstroth supposes that they receive some royal 

 jelly, purposely given by the workers, and I have previously 

 thought this reasonable and probably true. But these pests 

 of the apiarist, and especially of the breeder, almost always, 

 so far as I have observed, make their appearance in colonies 

 long queenless, and I have noticed a case similar to that given 



