138 The Bee People. 
The queen spins her cocoon, changes 
into a pupa, and comes forth a perfect 
bee all in seven and a half days, while it 
takes the worker twelve days and the drone 
fourteen and a half to complete these 
changes. 
If you do a little sum in addition, you 
will find that it takes sixteen days for an 
egg to become a queen-bee, twenty-one 
days for it to become a worker, and 
twenty-four days for a drone egg to be- 
come a drone. 
As soon as the worker-bees hatch out, 
they go to work. 
You already know what they do. They 
take care of the queen, following her about 
and feeding her with royal jelly whenever 
she is hungry, which is very often. 
They seem to be very fond of their hive- 
mother; and you will always see a little 
cluster of bees about her, caressing her 
with their antenne, and paying her the 
greatest respect. 
