52 THE BEE KBEPBB'S MANUAL. 



son, she judges it not best to deposit them in cells, she stands 

 upon a comb, and simply extrudes them from her oviduct, 

 and the workers devour them as fast as they are laid ! This 

 I have repeatedly witnessed in- my observing hives, and 

 admired the sagacity of the queen in economizing her 

 necessary work after this fashion, instead of laboriously 

 depositing the eggs in cells where they are not wanted. 

 What a difference between her wise management and the 

 stupidity of a hen obstinately persisting to set upon addled 

 eggs, or pieces of chalk, and often upon nothing at all. 



The workers eat up also all the eggs which are dropped, 

 or deposited out of place by the queen ; in this way, nothing 

 goes to waste, and even'a tiny egg is turned to some account. 

 Was there ever a better comment upon the maxim ? " Take 

 care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of them- 

 selves." 



Do the workers who appear to be so fond of a tit-bit in 

 the shape of a new laid egg, ever experience a struggle 

 between their appetites and the claims of duty, and does it 

 cost them some self denial to refrain from making a break- 

 fast on afresh laid egg? It is really very difficult for one 

 who has carefully watched the habits of bees, to speak of 

 his little favorites in any other way than as though they 

 possessed an intelligence almost, if not quite, akin to reason. 



It is well known to every breeder of poultry, that the 

 fertility of a hen decreases with age, until at length, she 

 becomes entirely barren ; it is equally certain that the fer- 

 tility of the queen bee ordinarily diminishes after she has 

 entered upon her third year. She sometimes ceases to lay 

 worker eggs, a considerable time before she dies of old 

 age ; the contents of the spermatheca are exhausted ; the 

 eggs can no longer be impregnated and must therefore pro- 

 duce drones. 



