ITALIAN QUEEN BEE 17 



mediately before my mother queen had laid 

 the tiny white egg down there, or perhaps 

 just afterwards. She and our people knew 

 a queen was to be raised there, because that 

 particular, rich, sex-aiding nourishment is 

 never deposited in any other cell to such an 

 extent, nor permitted during the whole 

 period of incubation as it is with those eggs 

 that are to be matured into Queens. This is 

 a scientific mystery, wonderful to contem- 

 plate, but Royal Jelly is known to be far 

 richer and there is more of it than of that 

 upon which my less illustrious relatives in 

 the hive are reared. I fairly floated upon 

 and in this tiny shut-in lake of nutriment. 

 But at the time I spoke about, when I 

 seemed to know I had the power to do think- 

 ing, I did feel hungry, as if I needed and 

 would enjoy some food I had not yet had. 

 Besides, I felt strong, quite suddenly, in 

 only a very few hours. I moved all I 

 could, and stretched my legs, and drew my 

 wings back and forth as I could. I knew 

 that I could hear, a consciousness I had 



