PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HONEY BEE 



twenty-one days, a drone twenty-four, while 

 a queen cell requires but sixteen days. 



The laying powers of the queen bee are 

 remarkable, as she will lay anywhere from 

 two thousand to five thousand eggs in a given 

 twenty-four hours. She does not, however, 

 lay at this rate during the entire year, but does 

 her best during the breeding season, during 

 the summer and spring months. She is the 

 only perfectly developed female in the hive, 

 whereas the workers are imperfectly devel- 

 oped females; their lack of development 

 being due to the smaller cells in which they are 

 reared and the absence of royal jelly in the 

 food that is given the egg and larvae. 



The drones are perfectly developed males, 

 and their sole function is the fertilization of the 

 virgin queens, an act taking place while in 

 flight, and resulting in the immediate death 

 of the drone. 



Unlike mammals, the bees have no skeleton 

 as a framework for support, but have a frame- 

 work mostly external, composed of a horny 



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