8 HANDY BOOK OF BEES. 



which to lay her eggs. Her eggs are of some size and 

 substance, in shape somewhat akin to birds' eggs. "When 

 she finds a cell empty, she inserts her abdomen and then 

 drops an egg, which adheres to the bottom of the cell by 

 the small end. The eggs come so fast from her that she 

 has neither time nor strength to lay one in each cell : 

 often two and sometimes three drop into one cell. An 

 amateur bee-keeper in this neighbourhood came to see me 

 a few months ago, and said, " I believe all you say about 

 bees but one statement as to the number of eggs laid by 

 a queen. I think it is not possible for a queen to dis- 

 tribute 2000 eggs in twenty-four hours." He was told 

 that the working bees helped to distribute and deposit the 

 eggs in their cells ; that where two were laid, the bees 

 removed one and placed it in another cell. He was 

 asked if he ever watched the queen's attendants in a 

 leaf or unioomb hive. He said he had observed how 

 they kept their heads towards her abdomen, and moved 

 around |her with the greatest vigilance. He was then 

 told that these attendants nimbly caught the eggs as they 

 came from her body. He at once acknowledged that 

 his doubts were removed, and now understood how the 

 cells were furnished with 2000 eggs daily. 



It is always pleasant to meet with honest, intelligent 

 inquirers, men that will not believe a thing without a 

 reason. And what reason have you for saying that a 

 single queen bee lays 2000 eggs every day in the height 

 of the season? A very satisfactory one. We have seen 

 hives containing more than 2000 square inches of combs 

 each. Let us suppose that only half of these combs were 

 filled with brood, and the rest fiUed with honey and bee- 

 bread: that is 1000 inches of comb for brood m each hive. 

 One inch of comb has fifty worker-cells in it, twenty-five 

 on each side. Very well, 1000 inches of comb con- 



