30 BEGINNER'S BEE BOOK 



the drones. During the earher stages of their 

 development the httle larvae remain curled up 

 in the bottoms of the cells, but when they com- 

 plete their growth they stretch out lengthwise 

 in the cells and spin very delicate cocoons and 

 the cells are sealed over with wax. 



The bee now enters upon the third stage of 

 its life, that of the pupa. During this stage it 

 takes no food and remains in absolute quiet. 

 In something less than eight days the queens 

 will complete the transformation, only sixteen 

 days being required from the time the egg is 

 laid until the mature queen is ready to leave 

 her royal cell. The workers require twelve days 

 for this stage and drones fifteen days. Twenty- 

 one days is the time required for worker bees 

 to develop from the egg and twenty- four days 

 for the drone. It will be seen that it takes eight 

 more days for the male bee to develop than for 

 the perfect female, and three days more than 

 for the worker or modified female. 



