26 PHYSIOLOGY AND BREEDING. 



with force sufficient to almost dislocate its nect, yet they 

 do not stop to see if any harm is done, or to beg pardon. 

 The little sufferer, after this rude lesson, scrambles back as 

 soou' as possible out of the way, enlarges the prison door 

 a little, and again attempts to emerge, with perhaps the 

 same result ; a dozen trials are often made before it suc- 

 ceeds. When it does leave, it seems like a stranger in a 

 multitude, with no friend to counsel, or mother to direct. 

 It wanders about uncared for and unheeded, and rarely 

 finds one sufficiently benevolent to bestow even the neces- 

 saries of life. It is generally forced to learn the important 

 lesson of looking out for itself, the day it leaves the cradle. 

 A cell containing honey is sought for, where its immediate 

 wants are all supplied. * 



TIME BEFOBB THE TOUHO BEE COMMENCES LABOIl. 



Some have said that it would leave the hive for honey 

 on the day it left the cell. Since the introduction of 

 the Italian, we can determine this point very accurately 

 by noting the day when the first one hatches, and also 

 when the first one comes home loaded. It is seldom less 

 than seven, and quite often fourteen days before they are 

 thus seen. Some teU us, too, that after the bees seal over the 

 cells containing the larva3, " they immediately commence 

 spinning their cocoons, which takes just about thirty-six 

 hours." I think it very likely, but cannot imagine how it 

 was determined. I do not possess optical acuteness to 

 look into one of these cells after it is sealed over. Sup- 

 pose we drive away the bees and open the cell to examine 

 the interior : the little insect stops its labor in a moment, 

 probably disturbed by the air and light. I never could 

 detect one at work. Suppose we open these cells every 

 hour after sealing, can we tell any thing about their pro- 

 gress by the appearance of these cocoons, or even tell 

 when they are finished ? The thickness of a dozen would 



