PRODUCTION OF QUEEN CELLS. 



89 



Chapter II, any egg which has been fertilized may be made to develop 

 into a queen. So also larvae from such eggs may, up to the third day, 

 be taken to rear from without danger of producing inferior queens. 

 Cells in which to produce queens will be started over some of these 

 larvae on the edges of the combs, or, by tearing down partitions and 

 thus enlarging the lower portion of the cell, a beginning is obtained 

 for a queen cell. Fig. 63 shows such queen cells constructed over eggs 

 or larvae originally designed to produce workers. They are known 

 as emergency cells. The young larva is at once liberally supplied 

 with a secretion, which is probably a production of the glands of the 

 head, and which analyses have shown to be rich in nitrogen and fatty 

 elements, being similar to that given at first to the worker larva. 

 This is continued throughout the whole feeding period, while, as Dr. Von 

 Planta has shown, in the case of the workers and drones, after the third 

 day the proportion of the constituents of the larval food is so changed 

 that they receive much less albumen 

 and fat and more sugar. It is chiefly 

 the influence of this food which causes 

 the larva that would have developed 

 as a worker to become a queen. The 

 latter has somewhat changed in- 

 stincts, and its reproductive system 

 is developed, instead of abortive as 

 in the case of the worker. The size of 

 the cell, and, to a less extent per- 

 haps, its position, no doubt influence 

 this development, but the food seems 

 to be the main factor, for small cells 

 built horizontally, if their larvae are 

 supplied with the food designed for 

 royal larva 1 -, will be found to contain 

 queens, and frequently these queens, 

 even though small, are quite prolific, 

 and show in all respects the instincts 

 of a queen. 



It is believed by most queen raisers that in order to secure the best 

 development of the young queens a colony should be allowed to build 

 but a few cells at a time. That their belief is not well founded is shown 

 by the facts just cited concerning the large numbers of well-developed 

 queen cells which produce also perfect and prolific queens. It lies 

 within the skill of the beemaster to establish conditions favoring the 

 production of food for the queen larvae the so called "royal jelly "- 

 and this having been brought about, there need be no hesitancy in per- 

 mitting the construction of hundreds of queen cells in one colony if 

 such numbers are needed. 



It was formerly the plan, after removing the queen from a colony r 

 order to secure queen cells, to trim the lower edges of the combs con- 



** m 



