The Eggs of Bees. 135 
by careful experiment. It is hardly necessary to say that 
there is-no truth in the statement that the sting is used to 
polish the comb; nor do I think there is any shadow of 
foundation for the statement that poison from the sting is 
dropped into the honey-cells to preserve the honey. The 
formic acid of honey doubtless comes from the honey- 
stomach. 
The workers hatch from impregnated eggs, which can 
only come from a queen that has met a drone, and are 
always laid in the small, horizontal cells (Fig. 53, ¢). 
These eggs are in no wise different, so far as we can see, 
from those which are laid in the drone or queen-cells. All 
are cylindrical and slightly curved (Fig. 24, a, 6) and are 
fastened by one end to the bottom of the cell, and a little 
to one side of the center. Girard says that the eg gg on the 
first day stands oblique to the bottom of the cell, is more 
inclined the second day, and is horizontal the third day. 
As in other animals, the eggs from different queens vary 
perceptibly in size. As already shown, these are volun- 
tarily fertilized by the queen as she extrudes them, prepar- 
atory to fastening them to the cells. These eggs, though 
small—one-sixteenth of an inch long, may be easily seen 
by holding the comb so that the light will shine into the 
cells. With experience they are detected almost at once, 
but I have often found it quite difficult to make the novice 
see them, though very plainly visible to my experienced 
eye. 
"The egg hatches in three days. The larva, (Fig. 24, d, 
_ tT); eee ee called grub, maggot—and even caterpillar, 
unter—is white, footless, and lies coiled up in the cell 
au near maturity. It is fed a whitish fluid, the chyle 
already described, though this seems to be given grudg- 
ingly, as the larva never seems to have more than it wishes 
to eat, so it is fed quite frequently by the mature workers. 
It would seem that the workers fear an excessive develop- 
ment, which, as we have seen, is most mischievous and 
ruinous, and work to prevent the same by a mean and 
meager diet. Not only do the worker larve receive the 
chyle grudgingly, but just at the last, before the cell is 
sealed, they are fed chyme, for undigested pollen is found in 
