98 The Bee People. 



ripen they pass through the long tube of 

 the ovipositor, which guides them to the 

 right place in the comb. 



If the queen were to lose her sting, she 

 would no longer be able to lay the eggs, 

 . and so the colony would soon die out. 



For worker-bees live only a few months 

 at the best, and sometimes only a few 

 weeks, so the queen, who lives four or five 

 years, and sometimes even longer, has to 

 keep on laying eggs in order to keep her 

 large household supplied with new mem- 

 bers as the old die oflF. 



It is no wonder, therefore, that she will 

 not sting. 



The queen takes no care of the eggs, nor 

 of the young bees. She leaves all that to 

 her daughters, the workers. She does not 

 even feed herself much of the time. 



But the workers are glad to take care 

 of her. They prepare a special food for 

 her, better than the food the other grown- 

 up bees get, which is quite proper, as such 



