56 



^'ATUKE STUDY 



In the spring, a hive of honey bees contains only a 

 queen and comparatively few workers. This queen be- 

 gins again the great business of her life of laying eggs. 



She chooses the smaller 



Worker (eil. 



Honeycomb, showing' the different cells 

 and larvae in various stages of devel- 

 opment. 



cells, which compress 

 slightly the abdomen, 

 so that the eggs, in 

 passing down, come in 

 contact with the sper- 

 matic fluid given her 

 by the drone and stored 

 in a special receptacle. 

 This fertilized egg, in 

 four days, develops 

 into a white, footless 

 larva, which floats in 

 the food left in the cell, 

 and is later fed by the nurses with a mixture of pollen 

 and honey specially prepared in the crop. The nurses 

 seal up the full-grown larvse after six days, with a cap 

 of wax. The larva 

 spins a cocoon of silk, 

 and gradually develops 

 into the adult form. 

 In eleven more days, 

 assisted by the work- 

 ers, she gnaws open 

 her prison, acts for a 

 week or so as a nurse 

 for the others, and then 

 takes upon herself the labor of ventilating the hive, 

 gathering honey, pollen, and propolis. The workers 

 have a longer tongue, very large hind legs with pollen 



Worker. 



