THE BEE. 



surrounded by a certain train of her subjects, appointed apparently 

 to attend her, and form the ladies-in-waiting on the occasion. They 

 range themselves in a circle around her (fig. 39). From time to time 



Fig. 39. The queen depositing her eggs iu the cells, surrounded by her suite. 



the individuals of her suite approach her and present her with 

 honey. They enter the cells where the eggs have been deposited, 

 and carefully clean them, and prepare them for the reception of 

 the pap which is to feed the young when it issues from the egg. 



104. In some exceptional cases, where her majesty is rendered 

 over prolific by any accidental cause, the eggs will drop from her 

 faster than she can pass from cell to cell, and in such cases two 

 or more eggs will be deposited in the same cell. Since the cells 

 are constructed only of sufficient magnitude for the due accom- 

 modation of a single bee, the royal attendants in such cases 

 always take away the supernumerary eggs, which they devour, 

 leaving no more than one in each cell (fig. 40). 



The eggs are oval and oblong, about the twelfth of an inch in 

 length, of a bluish white colour, and a little bent. They are 

 hatched by the natural warmth of the hive (from 76 to 96 Fahr.), 

 in from three to six days, the interval depending on the tem- 

 perature of the weather. 



48 



