42 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 



terially affects the size of the drones that are 

 reared in them. There are not wanting instances 

 of royal cells being occupied by them, and of the 

 workers being thereby so completely deceived as 

 to pay the tenants, in all respects, the honours of 

 royalty. This circumstance appears the more ex- 

 traordinary, since it has been ascertained that 

 when eggs have been thus inappropriately depo- 

 sited, by fertile workers, they are uniformly de- 

 stroyed a few days afterwards, though for a short 

 time they receive due attention. 



The workers have been supposed by some api- 

 arians to transport the eggs from place to place ; 

 if ever such were the case, this would seem to be 

 an occasion calling for the practice : on the con- 

 trary, instead of removing the eggs from the sides 

 to the bottoms of the cells, for the sake of better 

 accommodation, this object is accomplished by their 

 lengthening the cells, and advancing them two 

 lines beyond the surface of the combs. This pro- 

 ceeding affords pretty good evidence that the 

 transportation of eggs forms no part of the workers' 

 occupation. It is still further proved by their 

 eating any workers' eggs, that a queen may, at any 

 time, be forced to deposit in drones' cells, or drop 

 at random in other parts of the hive ; a circum- 

 stance which escaped the notice of former natu- 

 ralists, and misled them in their opinion respect- 



