THE INHABITANTS OF THE HIVE 37 



him some undigested pollen, a food not granted to 

 the larvae of the workers. At the end of a week his 

 cell is sealed over with a cap that looks more like the 

 crown of a derby hat than a cap, so spherical is it. 

 Cheshire has shown that this cap is an especially 

 fine example of engineering, being girdered by six 

 struts of wax, the apex of the dome being not a sky- 

 light exactly, but rather a ventilator for the admission 

 of air. (Plate VIII.) 



It has been a question of much dispute whether the 

 workers inspire the queen to drone-raising through 

 building drone comb, or whether she takes the 

 initiative in the matter. Certain it is the bees seem 

 to love to build drone comb, perhaps because it is 

 more easily constructed and requires less wax. It 

 is also a fact that the queen prefers the worker cells, 

 and in the spring or fall when there is little honey 

 coming in, the queen will voluntarily pass drone 

 comb, leaving it empty, and lay eggs in the worker 

 cells, so she evidently knows her own mind. Some- 

 times when reduced to dire extremity the queen will 

 lay worker eggs in the drone cells, but she does not 

 do this unless the openings of the cells have been 

 previously constricted by the bees. Sometimes also 

 when the conditions are abnormal the queen will lay 

 drone eggs in the worker cells and from these will 

 be developed runty drones, which seem of little 

 account. However, such conditions as these are 

 very unusual. 



When the drone is twenty-four days from the egg 

 he cuts a circular lid out of the cap of his cell, and 



