OR, MANUAL Olf THB apiary. 161 



ceptibly in size. As already shown, these are voluntarily fer- 

 tilized by the queen as she extrudes them, preparatory to 

 fastening them in the cells. These eggs, though small — one- 

 sixteenth of an inch long — may be easily seen by holding the 

 comb so that the light will shine into the cells. With experi- 

 ence they are detected almost at once, but I have often found 

 it quite difficult to make the novice see them, though very 

 plainly visible to my experienced eye. 



The egg hatches in three days. The larva (Fig. 39, d, e,f), 

 incorrectly called grub, maggot — and even caterpillar, by Hun- 

 ter — is white, footless, and lies coiled up in the cell till near 

 maturity. It is fed a whitish fluid, the chyle already described, 

 though this seems to be given grudgingly, as the larva never 

 seems to have more than it wishes to eat, so it is fed quite 

 frequently by the mature workers. It would seem that the 

 workers fear an excessive development, which, as we have 

 seen, is most mischievous and ruinous, and work to prevent the 

 same by a mean and meager diet. Not only do the worker- 

 larvEe receive the chyle grudgingly, but just at the last, before 

 the cell is sealed, a difi'erent diet is given. There are more 

 albuminoids and fats, and less carbohydrates, as shown by Dr. 

 de Planta. It is probable that honey is also given them, and 

 so Dufour was wholly right in urging that digested food was 

 fed to the larvae, for honey is digested nectar. This added 

 honey is what probably changes the food. He was also correct 

 in supposing the food of the larva to be a sort of chyle. M. 

 Quinby, Doolittle, and others, say water is also an element of 

 this food. But bees often breed very rapidly when they do not 

 leave the hive at all, and so water, other than that contained 

 in the honey, etc., can not be added. The time when bees 

 seem to need water, and so repair to the rill and the pond, is 

 during the heat of spring and summer, when they are the most 

 busy. May this not be quaffed for the most part to slake their 

 own thirst ? If water is carried to the hives it is doubtless 

 given to the nurse-bees. They may need water when the 

 weather is hot and brood-rearing at its very height. There is 

 no reason to doubt that bees, like all other active animals, need 

 water as they do salt, to aid the physiological processes. They 

 cool by evaporation, and need water to promote the process. 



