GROWTH AND FEEDING OF HONEYBEE LARVAE. 



35 



between the nurse bees and the older worker larvae, as has been ob- 

 served in related insects, such as ants and wasps. 



When a certain larva has received more than the average amount 

 of nursing for larvae of its age during one observation period, less 

 than the average amount of nursing is given it during the follow- 

 ing period. A conspicuous lack of nursing in one period is usually 

 followed by more than average nursing in a subsequent period. 



Over 10,000 visits are made to each developed individual bee dur- 

 ing the eight days from the time the egg is laid until the cell is 

 capped. During this same period a considerable amount of time 

 is spent by the nurse bees actually within the cell. The time thus 

 spent during the last day before, capping is nearly 4| hours, A 

 consideration of these facts, together with the time required for pro- 

 curing, elaborating, and transporting the food to the cells, and 

 also the time required for capping the cells, leads one to conclude that 

 the number of bees engaged in nursing must be very large. 



Beekeepers have recognized the great cost in honey and labor of 

 the rearing of brood. They have, of course, recognized the desira- 

 bility of rearing large amounts of brood before the honey-flow, but 

 they also recognize the desirability of a reduction in brood-rearing 

 after the honey-flow begins. They have to some extent accomplished 

 the latter object by the removal of brood, by the caging of the queen, 

 or by the reduction of the space available for egg-laying by the 

 queen, these manipulations also accomplishing other purposes need- 

 ful in certain phases of beekeeping (swarm control, comb-honey 

 production, etc.). While these manipulations serve the purposes for 

 which they are intended, they often introduce other factors which 

 act adversely on the nectar gathering of the colony. One may not 

 therefore from single facts regarding the excessive labor cost of 

 brood-rearing recommend any special manipulations of the colony 

 for the purpose of increasing the total honey crop, without a study 

 of all the factors involved. 



Table 5. — Data obtained from observations of visits of nurse bees to cells 

 containing eggs and larvas. 



VISITS TO CELLS CONTAINING EGGS. 



Designation. 



Number of visits per period of 10 minutes. 



Inspection, 

 Type A. 



Inspection, 

 TypeB. 



Nursing.' 



Total. 



Time spent in nursing i 

 (seconds). 



Time spent in 



individual 



visits. 



Total time 



spent per 



10-minute 



period. 



Egg a.. 

 Eggb.. 

 Eggc. 

 Eggd.. 

 Egge.. 

 Eggf... 

 Eggg-- 

 Eggh.. 

 Eggi... 

 Eggi... 

 Eggk.. 

 Eggi... 

 Eggm. 

 Eggn.. 



Average. 



Seconds. 



2 







3,19 



2,3,8,4... 







5 











9 



4, 8, 2 



4,4,2 



2,8 







2 



1.64 



3.0 



1.29 



5.06 



Seconds. 

 2 

 

 22 

 17 

 

 5 

 

 

 9 

 14 

 10 

 10 

 

 2 



1 Under this heading are given visits of two seconds or more. There is no actual giving of food to the egg. 



