THE MAGIC CITY 107 



five days from the time the egg is laid. While 

 the drone lives a carefree life during the warm 

 summer days when his busy sisters are laying 

 up their winter store, they are not dealt with 

 lightly when the chill days of autumn come, 

 and the workers are no longer busy bringing 

 honey from the field. When at last the time 

 comes when they take delight in remaining 

 inside and enjoying the warmth of the hive, 

 they are driven out heartlessly by the sisters 

 who have cared for them so indulgently dur- 

 ing the warm days of summer. Poor fellows! 

 they have toiled not in the harvest, and they 

 are now driven out to perish of cold and 

 hunger. 



Most interesting of all they found the queen, 

 the mother of the whole population of the 

 bee city. When they removed the comb on 

 which she was lying, she paid little attention, 

 but kept on looking into the cells to find those 

 which were empty and then turning and back- 

 ing in to leave an egg in each. Thus she 

 spends her days, moving from cell to cell and 

 laying a thousand or more eggs every day dur- 

 ing the height of the honey-gathering season. 



At the time of the little girl's visit the col- 

 ony was preparing to swarm, and, accordingly, 



