ITALIAN QUEEN BEE 91 



meal." And with that a pink little rod 

 came through under the lid! I put out my 

 tongue and the points of both touched, and 

 I began to draw nectar from the honey sac 

 of one of the nurse bees. How good it did 

 taste! Precisely what I needed, sweet and 

 luscious, with the delicacy of clover blossoms 

 themselves ! After that full meal I actually 

 felt like a grown young lady, strong and 

 conscious of my looks, and, as well as I 

 could, I began to dress my hair which grew 

 over the sides of my temples and down 

 around my throat. Just then some individ- 

 uals got off the cell lid, and a tall magnifi- 

 cent looking and beautifully gowned lady 

 came and pushed her head and arms under, 

 and lifted it enough so that she could caress 

 me! This touched me greatly but I have 

 since found out that the spirit of the colony 

 would not likely have permitted this in case 

 she had been my sister instead of my 

 mother. I looked out at her and perceived 

 that her hair, arms, face and elongated body 

 were precisely like mine. She was leather 



