140 THE LORE OF THE HONEY-BEE 



combs where others are not available, even though 

 the capacity of the cells has been greatly reduced, 

 seems to cast an added doubt on the theory that 

 the size of the cell is responsible for the fertilisa- 

 tion or non-fertilisation of the egg as it is de- 

 posited by the queen. Very old drone-comb is 

 sometimes found in use for breeding purposes 

 where the cells have become no larger than those 

 used for normal worker-brood. And yet the 

 queen continues to lay in them unimpregnated 

 eggs. The whole question is still hedged round 

 with difficulties. 



The young worker-bee, at the end of about 

 three weeks from its first inception, breaks from 

 its chrysalis-skin, and begins to gnaw its way 

 through the cell-cover. The pollen, which is 

 combined with the wax to form this capping, 

 discharges a double office. It makes the wax 

 porous for the admittance of air, and it renders 

 the cell-cover edible, thus causing the young bee 

 to effect its own release through the promptings 

 of its appetite. The new-born worker, although 

 fully grown, is a weak, greyish-hued, flaccid 

 creature for some time after it leaves its cradle. 

 Its earliest impulse seems to be to groom itself, 

 and then to wander about on a tour of inspection 

 of its as yet narrow world of gloom and noise and 

 bustle. For the first day or two it does little else 

 than crawl about unnoticed in the busy throng, 

 gradually gaining strength and rigidity of limb. 



