THE HIVE BEE 349 



while she is at work, a number of neuter bees accompany her with 

 food. 



We may think that the queen bee, who is so anxious to see 

 that the cells for her eggs are properly constructed, would be 

 very careful of the little grubs when they hatch out. But she 



Bees in quest of Honey 



does not seem to care about them in the least. When once the 

 eggs are laid, she never goes near the cells any more, but leaves 

 the workers to feed her little ones, and see that they do not come 

 to any harm. All that she seems to think about is to lay still 

 more eggs. This is not to be wondered at, as the whole future 

 progeny of the hive depends upon that one queen. 



The workers are so attentive to the grubs, however, that they 

 quite make up for her neglect. As soon as the queen bee lays an 

 egg in its cell, a worker bee puts in with it a small quantity of a 



