GROWTH AND FEEDING OF HONEYBEE LARVAE. 27 



the comb is placed in the hive. These cells are then marked by past- 

 ing a small triangular pointer on the outside of the glass, the fine 

 point of which comes directly over the cell to be studied. These 

 pointers serve to hold abbreviated data concerning the particular 

 cell which they mark ; they interfere in no wise with the observations 

 and are permanent. Paint or marks on the edge of the cell itself are 

 soon removed, and the bees working at this removal may introduce 

 a source of error. 



Preliminary observations were made, and it was decided that 

 10-minute periods for observations are probably of the most prac- 

 tical length. Such a short period can be used to obtain data on a 

 greater number of different cells within a given time, or they can 

 be doubled and several readings taken in succession on the. same cell, 

 in case it appears that either procedure is desirable. 



NURSE BEES. 



A nurse bee moves about over the brood combs when attending to 

 the needs of eggs or larva?. She stops sometimes and lowers her head 

 over certain cells, and at other times she thrusts her head within the 

 brood cells but promptly withdraws it. On still other occasions she 

 enters a cell containing an egg or a larva and remains in it for a 

 more or less extended period, presumably engaged in certain activ- 

 ities. The activities of the nurse bees in their work may be classified 

 according to the time spent at each cell and according to the probable 

 purpose of their visits. These actions are here divided into inspec- 

 tions and nursing, and the inspections are further subdivided. 



INSPECTION, TYPE A. 



A nurse bee in pursuing her duties sometimes pauses with her head 

 over an open brood cell. When she does this she usually lowers her 

 head slightly, barely perceptibly at times, and then passes on. It is 

 observable that she is a nurse bee, and presumably this behavior is 

 part of the activity connected with her duties as a nurse, for she has 

 just come from another cell where she has been feeding a larva ; and 

 if her movements are followed, she is seen to enter another cell, 

 where her movements indicate that she is attending to the wants of 

 the inmate. 



This act of pausing, together with other activities which may 

 accompany it but which have not as yet been explained, is difficult to 

 classify, because its significance is not known. Such a pause may be 

 all that is required to gain information through some sense organ 

 concerning the feeding requirements of the inmate, and therefore this 

 activity must be recorded. This type of activity is frequently noted, 

 particularly when the cell contains an egg or a young larva. 1 At 

 present certain and special significance can not be attributed to this 

 activity other than calling attention to it as a fact ; it was decided to 

 enter it in the data under the designation Inspection, Type A. 



1 A similar hesitating behavior is noted in the ease of the laying queen, and it is seen 

 most often when she is laying in a comb containing scattered brood and eggs. At such 

 times she frequently pauses above certain cells and then passes on without entering. 

 Many cells thus passed have been examined and practically without exception they con- 

 tained either eggs, larva?, or noticeable debins. 



