50 PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HONEY-BEE. 



110. Duration of Development. — The eggs hatch in 

 three days after they are laid. The small worm which is 

 intended to produce a queen, is six days in its larval state, 

 and seven in its transformation into a chrysalis and winged 

 insect. These periods are not absolutely fixed; being of 

 shorter or longer duration, according to the warmth of the 

 hive and the care given by the bees. In from ten to sixteen 

 days, m ten days, if the lai'\'a selected is about three days 

 old; in sixteen, if newly laid eggs are selected, they are in 

 possession of a new queen, in all respects resembling one 

 reared in the natural way; while the eggs in the adjoining 

 cells, w^hich have been developed as workers, are nearly a 

 week longer in coming to maturity. 



111. The Virgin Queen.— Feeble and pale, in the first 

 moments after her birth, the young queen, as soon as she has 

 acquired some streng-th, travels over the combs, looking for 

 a rival, either hatched or unhatched. 



112. ''Hardly had ten minutes elapsed after the young 

 queen emerged from her cell, when she began to look for sealed 

 queen-cells. She rushed furiously upon the first that she met, 

 and, by dint of hard work, made a small opening in the end. 

 We saw her drawing, with her mandibles, the silk of the cocoon, 

 vvhich covered the inside. But, probably, she did not succeed 

 according to her wishes, for she left the lower end of the cell, 

 and went to .work on the upper end, where she finally made a 

 wider opening. As soon as this was sufficiently large, she 

 turned about, to push her abdomen into it. She made several 

 motions, in different directions^ till she succeeded in striking 

 her rival with the deadly sting. Then she left the cell; and the 

 bees, which had remained, so far, perfectly passive, began to 

 enlarge the gap which she had made, and drew out the corpse of a 

 queen just out of her nymphal shell. During this time, the vic- 

 torious young queen rushed to another queen-cell, and again 

 made a large opening, but she did not introduce her abdomen 

 into it; this second cell containing only a royal-pupa not yet 

 formed. There is some probability that, at this stage of de- 

 velopment, the nymphs of queens inspire less anger to theii 

 rivals; but they do not escape their doom; for, whenever a 

 queen-cell has been prematurely opened, the bees throw out its 



