92 



OCCUPANTS OF THE HIVE 



are hatched are never impregnated in either case. When Dzier- 

 zon first discovered tliis fact, which is called " parthenogenesis," 

 his newly formulated theory of the ability of virgin mothers to 

 produce male offspring was ridiculed as impossible. However, 

 his observations were later confirmed by careful observers, and 

 of late it is regarded as a settled fact, rather common among 

 insects. 



A vigorous queen will lay more than her own, weight of eggs 

 daily during the height of the season. Nurse bees wait upon 



Fig. 48. — Worker beed on the comb. 



her constantly, and feed her freely with highly nutritious and 

 ready digested food. 



The Worker. — Upon the worker bees (Fig. 48) devolve all 

 the labor of the hive. A lifetime of toil is their normal portion. 

 Building the combs, gatliering the nectar and pollen to furnish 

 food for tlie commimity, secreting the wax, feeding the queen 

 and drones as well, nursing the young bees, guarding the hive 

 against robbers, and carrying out refuse to kee-p the home clean 

 are a part of the manifold duties that they are called upon to 

 perform. 



By inheritance the worker is apparently in every way similar 



