34 THE HONBT-BEE. 



Cells that are short, like those on the lower edge of 

 comb not completed, or, on the side, seem to be preferred, 

 and quite a number are often built close together. 



When these are one-third or one-half done, the queen 

 will deposit eggs in them. 



When hatched, the larva is supplied with a super- 

 abundance of food ; this appears from the fact that a 

 quantity is frequently found remaining in the cell after 

 the queen has left. The consistency of this substance is 

 about like cream, the color somewhat lighter, or just 

 tinged with yellow. 



The time in which an egg, originally destined for a 

 queen, matures, does not vary much from sixteen days. 

 When soms of these young queens are sufficiently ad- 

 vanced to be sealed over, the old queen, and the greater 

 part of the workers, abandon the hive for a new location, 

 (this action is termed " swarming "), leaving those remain- 

 ing to maintain the prosperity of the old home. The 

 bees after leaving, soon collect in a cluster, and if j)ut in 

 an empty hive, will commence anew their labors, con- 

 structing combs, rearing brood, and storing honey ; thus 

 establishing a new colony. 



In ordinary circumstances when a swarm has thus left 

 a stock, the oldest of the young queens is ready to issue 

 from her cell in about seven or eight days. When she 

 appears, she will, if not restrained by the bees, at once 

 proceed to bite into the remaining queen-cells and sting 

 the immature queens to death. But if another swarm is 

 not contemplated they will permit her to accomplish 

 their destruction. In three or four aays thereafter, if 

 the weather is favorable, the queen will leave the hive 

 for connection with the drone. 



In their preliminary preparations for swarming num- 

 bers of drones have been reared for this purpose. This 

 meeting takes place high in the air. The queen upon 

 her return frequently bears evident marks of the conneo* 



