CHAPTER I. 



INTKODUCTORY REMARKS. 



Every prosperous swarm or family of bees must con- 

 tain one queen, several thousand workers, and part of the 

 year, a few hundred drones. 



BESCRIPTION OP CJTTBBN. 



The Queen is the mother of the entire colony. Her 

 only duty seems to be to lay eggs; of which she sometimes 

 deposits two thousand in twenty-four hours. In shape, 

 she resembles the worker more than the drone, but is 

 longer than either, and like the worker possesses a sting, 

 but will not use it upon anything below royalty. Her 

 color upon the upper side is darker than that of the others ; 

 the two posterior legs and under side are 

 of a bright copper color. In some of them 

 a yellow stripe nearly encircles the ab- 

 domen at the joints. All the colors are 

 bright and glossy, and she has but little of 

 the down or hair that is seen on the drones 

 and workers. Different queens vary much 

 I"ig- 1.— QUEEH. jjj- color, some being much darker than 

 others. A still greater variation is presented in the Italian 

 queens, most of which are of a rich golden color, while a 

 few are even darker than the usual shade of the natives. 



For the first few days after leaving the cell her size is 

 much less than after she has assumed her maternal duties. 

 She seldom, perhaps never, leaves the hive, except when 

 leading out a swarm, and when but a few days old to meet 

 the drone for the purpose of fecundation. 



