14 THE BEE-KEEPER’S MANUAL. 
and law; there is no such thing as a guard in 
attendance on her, though the nurses when feeding 
her may present that appearance; and lastly, as 
we have just seen, the presence of two queens m 
a hive does not invariably result in a fight. 
THE COMMON OR WORKING BEES 
Are the least in size, and in point of numbers in a 
family are variously reckoned at from twelve to thirty 
thousand, according to the bulk of the swarm; though 
under certain circumstances they are sometimes much 
more numerous—indeed from thirty to fifty thousand 
may be set down as the average population of an 
English hive in a settled condition. As regards sex, 
we have already seen that there is no reason to doubt 
that there are females, only that the reproductive 
organs and ovaries are not so fully developed as they 
are in the case of a perfect queen; and this has led to 
the erroneous use of the term neuters, as sometimes 
applied to the common bees. If any doubt should 
remain as to their sex, it is removed by the knowledge 
that, in some instances, they are able to pro- 
duce eggs. Like the queen, each has the power of 
stinging. The use of the sting, however, usually 
involves a loss of life, for, being barbed like an arrow, 
the bee has rarely the power of withdrawing it. 
The eggs for workers are deposited in the common 
cells in the centre of the hive, such being the part 
first selected for that purpose, the queen usually laying 
them equally on each side of a comb, and nearly back 
to back. In three or four days’ time they are 
