140 THE LORE OF THE HONEY-BEE 
combs where others are not available, even though 
the capacity of the cells has been greatly reduced, 
seems to cast an added doubt on the theory that 
the size of the cell is responsible for the fertilisa- 
tion or non-fertilisation of the egg as it is de- 
posited by the queen. Very old drone-comb is 
sometimes found in use for breeding purposes 
where the cells have become no larger than those 
used for normal worker-brood. And yet the 
queen continues to lay in them unimpregnated 
eggs. The whole question is still hedged round 
with difficulties. 
The young worker-bee, at the end of about 
three weeks from its first inception, breaks from 
its chrysalis-skin, and begins to gnaw its way 
through the cell-cover. The pollen, which is 
combined with the wax to form this capping, 
discharges a double office. It makes the wax 
porous for the admittance of air, and it renders 
the cell-cover edible, thus causing the young bee 
to effect its own release through the promptings 
of its appetite. The new-born worker, although 
fully grown, is a weak, greyish-hued, flaccid 
creature for some time after it leaves its cradle. 
Its earliest impulse seems to be to groom itself, 
and then to wander about on a tour of inspection 
of its as yet narrow world of gloom and noise and 
bustle. For the first day or two it does little else 
than crawl about unnoticed in the busy throng, 
gradually gaining strength and rigidity of limb. 
