284 



ENTOMOLOGY 



other, the excretions of the larva cannot contaminate the surrounding 

 nutriment, and are retained until the final molt. Five days after 



hatching, the larva spins its cocoon, 

 the workers having meanwhile cov- 

 ered the larval cells with a porous 

 cap of wax and pollen (Fig. 287) 

 and on the twenty-first day after 

 the egg was laid the winged worker 

 bee. cuts its way out, assisted in 

 this operation by the ever-attentive 

 nurses. Now, after acquiring the 

 use of its faculties, the newly 

 emerged bee itself assumes the 

 duties of a nurse, but as soon as 

 its cephalic nursing glands are 

 exhausted it becomes a forager. 

 This account applies to the worker; 

 the three kinds of individuals differ 



FIG. 286. Comb of honey bee, showing in respect to the number of days 

 the insect in various stages At the right re quired for development, as 



are large queen cells. After BENTON. 



appears in the following table, 

 from Phillips: 



Queen. . 

 Worker. 

 Drone. . 



EGG. 



3 

 3 

 3 



LARVA. 



PUPA. 



12 



TOTAL. 

 16 



21 



24 



The cells in which queens develop (Fig. 286) are quite different from 

 worker or drone cells, being much larger, more or less irregular in form, 

 and vertical instead of 



horizontal; they are WiL P 



attached usually to the 

 lower edge of a comb or 

 else to one of the- side 

 edges. 



Other Facts. The 

 entire organization of the 

 honey bee has been pro- 

 foundly modified with ref- 

 erence to floral structure; the life of the bee is wrapped up in that of 

 the flower. The more important structural adaptations of bees in 



FIG. 287. Honey bee. /, feeding larva; p, pupa; 

 s, spinning larva. After CHESHIRE. 



