72 SOCIAL ECONOMY. 



smaller than the German bee. Orange bands are apparent upon the 

 first three abdominal segments. They are exceeding thrifty, and are 

 said to thrive where others fail entirely. 



A statement of the qualities of these bees has been given without 

 an attempt to point out the one best adapted for this region. The 

 Italians are justly popular. The black bee is still with us. The 

 Carniolans and Cyprians are comparative strangers within our bor- 

 ders. If an opinion were asked, it would be that the Italians and Car- 

 niolans will merit every attention in this locality. Hybrids are being 

 used to some extent, but a discussion of the various objects sought 

 and qualities attained by this process will hardly apply here. 



SOCIAL ECONOMY OF THE HIVE. 



This communistic society contains three divisions, unequal in 

 number but of equal importance in function. The colony is com- 

 posed of a queen, the impregnated female, the drones or male element, 

 and the workers or undeveloped females. 



THE QUEEN. Before her true function was known she was termed 

 the "king bee" on account of size. This, the most attractive person- 

 age in the hive, is more frequently ruled than ruler. She receives 

 every attention that can be bestowed upon her by her attendants, the 

 workers, and well they may caress her, for around her centers the ex- 

 istence of the hive. The difference between a queen and a worker is 

 caused by the difference in the amount and the character of the food 

 given each in the earlier stages of development. As Cheshire would 

 say, the workers are weaned and the queen nurses during her lifetime. 



Queens are developed in two ways, each under different circum- 

 stances. In the natural procedure the queen cell is made, the fertil- 

 ized egg placed therein, and the young larva fed, instead of the 

 bee-bread intended for bees, royal jelly, a substance resembling 

 blanc-mange, a food given forth from an active gland in the head 

 of the nurse bees. Should the colony be deprived of its queen, the 

 workers hasten the appearance of a new queen by tearing down the 

 partition walls between three surrounding cells, taking the contents 

 away, and leaving one egg to be fed for the throne. The egg 

 hatches in about three days after being laid. About six days are 

 spent in the worm or larval state, then seven in the quiescent or pupal 

 state. In some cases the workers choose a cell containing a larva for 

 the production of an emergency queen. If the workers choose a 

 worm as a princess, the time from formation of cell to emergence of 

 queen will be shorter than the full sixteen days a number of days 

 equal to the age of larva, including egg period. Cheshire has shown 

 that emergency queens are not equal to queens produced in the natu- 



