Development of Qneen Bee. g! 
at 
tents of the alimentary canal simply, very likely a special 
secretion is added. These cocoons are shown nicely when 
we melt old comb in the solar wax extractor. The queen 
now spends nearly three days in absolute repose. Such 
rest is common to all cocoon-spinning larve. The spin-. 
ning, which is done by a rapid motion to-and-fro of the 
head, always carrying the delicate thread, much like the 
moving shuttle of the weaver, seems to bring exhaustion 
and need of repose. She now assumes the nymph, or 
pupa state (Fig. 24,2). At the end of the sixteenth day 
she comes forth a queen. While a queen usually comes 
forth in sixteen days, there may be delay. Cold will delay 
hatching of the egg, and retard development. Sometimes 
queens are kept for a time in the cell, after they are really 
ready to come forth. Thus there may be rarely a delay of 
even two days, Huber states that when a queen emerges 
the bees are thrown into a joyous excitement, so that he 
noticed a rise in temperature in the hive from 92° F. to 104° 
F. I have never tested this matter accurately, but I have 
failed to notice any marked demonstration on the natal day 
of her ladyship the queen, or extra respect paid her as a 
virgin. When queens are started from worker larvae, they 
will issue as imagos in ten or twelve days from the date of 
their new prospects. Mr. Doolittle writes me that he has 
known them to issue in eight and one-half days. My own 
observations sustain the assertion of Mr. P. L. Viallon that 
the minimum time is nine and one-half days. . 
As the queen’s development is probably due to superior 
quality and increased quantity of food, it would stand to 
reason that queens started from eggs are preferable; the 
more so as, under normal circumstances, I believe they are 
almost always thus started. The best experience sustains 
this position. As the proper food and temperature can 
best be secured in a full colony—and here again the natural 
economy of the hive adds to our argument—we should 
infer that the best queens would be reared in strong colo- 
nies, or at least kept in such colonies till the cells were 
capped. Experience also confirms this view. As the quan- 
tity and quality of food and the general activity of the bees 
are directly connected with the full nourishment of the 
