366 APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY 



containing a worker egg and tear down those around it and construct a new 

 cell about the shape and size of a small peanut, to enclose the egg, and with 

 its opening usually facing downward. When the egg in this cell hatches 

 the larva is fed on " royal jelly" which is probably bee bread mixed with 

 an albuminous secretion derived from glands situated in the heads of the 

 workers, and which is richer and more nutritious than bee bread. With 

 this richer food and a larger space in which to develop, the workers are 

 thus able to produce a queen from a worker egg. There are often a num- 

 ber of queen cells of different ages in a nest at once. 



The time required to produce a queen from egg to adult is about 15J^ 

 days: for a worker, 21 days; and for a drone 24 days. 



Swarming is for the double purpose of relieving colonies whose nests 

 would otherwise become over-crowded, and for the establishment of 

 new ones. Though many of the details of this process may vary on 

 different occasions, the usual story of swarming is about as follows. 



When the colony is in such a condition during late spring or summer 

 that swarming will soon be desirable, drone cells and queen cells are con- 

 structed and after a time the first of the new queens completes pupation 

 and begins to bite off the wax cap over the mouth of her cell. At this 

 time she makes a peculiar noise commonly called a "piping" sound, and 

 when the old queen hears this she becomes greatly disturbed and begins 

 to hunt for the young queen to sting and kill her before she can escape 

 from her cell, if possible. If a swarm just at that time is not desired by 

 the workers for any reason, she may be allowed to do this, but if swarm- 

 ing is to take place workers cluster so thickly over and around the young 

 queen cell that the old queen cannot reach it. This opposition to her 

 wishes, passive though it is, or the knowledge that another queen will 

 quickly be present in the colony seems to arouse and excite the old queen 

 greatly and this excitement spreads to the workers, particularly the 

 younger ones. Scouts now go out to find a home for the swarm and 

 finally the old queen and a mass of workers leave the hive together. In 

 some cases they go directly to their new home, but most often they fly 

 only a short .distance before clustering on the limb of some bush or tree 

 for a time before flying to the new nest. Once arrived there, the work of 

 preparing the place, stopping the cracks and the production of comb 

 begins, as already described. 



That part of the colony remaining behind now consists of workers, 

 drones and a young, unfertilized queen. The queen on escaping from 

 her cell usually explores the brood cells and if she finds other queens 

 developing she stings them in their cells to assure her supremacy, unless 

 prevented by the workers. A few days later the queen leaves the nest on 

 a pleasant day for a flight during which she mates, after which she returns 

 to take up her duties as queen of the colony. 



Several possibilities may become realities in connection with swarm- 



