PHTSIOLOQV. 67 



third of an inch in diameter : they are very thick, and re- 

 quire a large quantity of material for their construction. 

 They are seldom seen in a perfect state, as the bees nibble 

 them away after the queen has hatched, leaving only their 

 remains, in the shape of a very small acorn-cup. While 

 the other cells open sideways, these always hang with their 

 mouth doienwards. Much speculation has arisen as to the 

 reason for this deviation : some have conjectured that their 

 peculiar position exerted an influence upon the development 

 of the royal larvae ; while others, having ascertained that 

 no injurious effect was produced by turning them upwards, 

 or placing them in any other position, have considered this 

 deviation as among the inscrutable mysteries of the bee-hive. 

 So it always seemed to me, until more careful reflection 

 enabled me to solve the problem. The queen cells open 

 downwards, simply to save room ! The distance between 

 the parallel ranges of comb being usually less than half an 

 inch, the bees could not have made the royal cells to open side- 

 ways, without sacrificing the cells opposite to them. In or- 

 der to economize space, to the very utmost, they put ihem up^ 

 on the unoccupied edges of the comb, as the only place where 

 there is always plenty of room for such very large cells. 



The number of royal cells varies greatly ; sometimes 

 there are only two or three, ordinarily there are five or six, 

 and I have occasionally seen more than a dozen. They are 

 not all commenced at once, for the bees do not intend that 

 the young queens shall all arrive at maturity, at the same 

 time. I do not consider it as fully settled, ho.w the eggs are 

 deposited in these cells. In some few instances, I have 

 known the bees to transfer the eggs from common to queen 

 cells, and this may be their general method of procedure; 

 I shall hazard the conjecture that the queen deposits her 

 eggs in cells on the edges of the comb, in a crowded state 



