THE BEE FAMILY 



from which they are reared are eggs that have 

 been fertilized by a drone and are deposited 

 in worker cells by the queen. These eggs 

 when first laid look like a piece of cotton thread 

 about a thirty-second of an inch long, and are 

 attached to the bottom of the cell by a bluish 

 white gelatinous secretion. 



Although at the time it is deposited the egg 

 retains an upright position, on the second day 

 it inclines to an angle of about forty-five 

 degrees, and by the third day it lies perfectly 

 flat in its cell, containing in itself the vital 

 germ of life. 



On its fourth day it has developed into a 

 tiny white grub, and is supplied with a suffi- 

 cient amount of food, known as pap, which 

 the nurse bees give to it as soon as it has devel- 

 oped past the egg stage. 



The food fed to the larvae is produced by the 

 chyle-stomach of the nurse bees and is liberally 

 given until the third day, when less is given, 

 honey and pollen being added to the mass. 



When the larva is about six days old, or 

 E 49 



