THE QUEEN. 



45 



ticularly described. Eariy in the season, if a hive becomes 

 very populous, and if the bees make preparations for swarm- 

 ing, a number of royal cells 

 are begun, being commonly 

 constructed upon those edges 

 of the combs which are not 

 attached to the sides of the 

 hive. These cells somewhat 

 resemble a small pea-nut, 

 and are about an inch deep, 

 and one-third of an inch in 

 diameter: being very thick, 

 they require much wax for 

 their construction. They are 

 seldom seen in a perfect state 

 after the hatching of the 

 queen, as the bees cut them 

 down to the shape of a small 

 acorn-cup (fig. 21.) These 

 queen-cells, while in prog- 

 ress, receive a very unusual 

 amount of attention from the workers. There is scarcely a 

 second in which a bee is not peeping into them; and as fast 

 as one is satisfied, another pops in her head to report prog- 

 ress, or increase the supply of food. Their importance to 

 the community might easily be inferred from their being the 

 center of so much attraction. 



104. While the other cells open sideways, the queen-cells 

 always hang with their mouth downwards. Some Apiarists 

 think that this peculiar position affects, in some way, the devel- 

 opment of the royal larvae; while others, having ascertained 

 that they are uninjured if placed in any other position, con- 

 sider this deviation as among the inscrutable mysteries of the 

 bee-hive. So it seemed to us until convinced, by a more careful 

 observation, that they open downwards simply to save room. 

 The distance between the parallel ranges of comb in the hive 

 is usually too small for the royal cells to open sideways, with- 

 out interfering with the opposite cells. To economize space, 



Fig. 21. 



QUEEN-CELLS IN PEOGEBSS. 



