88 Harmony Among the Bees. 



proof that it is sometimes done. Possibly the young larva 

 may at times be removed from one cell to another. The 

 opponents to the view that the queen lays eggs in the queen 

 cells, base their belief on a supposed discord between the 

 queen and neuters. This antagonism is inferred, and I have 

 but little faith in the inference, or the argument from it. 

 I know that when royal cells are to be torn down, and 

 inchoate queens destroyed, the workers aid the queen in 

 the destruction. I have also seen queens pass by unguarded 

 queen-cells, and yet respect them. I have also seen sev- 

 eral young queens dwelling amicably together in the same 

 hive. Is it not probable that the bees are generally united 

 in whatever is to be accomplished, and that when queens 

 are to be destroyed all spring to the work, and when they 

 are to live all regard them as sacred? It is true that the 

 actions of bees are controlled and influenced by the sur- 

 rounding conditions or circumstances, but I have yet to see 

 satisfactory proof of the old theory that these conditions 

 impress differently the queen and the workers. The con- 

 ditions which lead to the building of queen-cells and the 

 peopling of the same are: Loss of queen; when a worker 

 larva from one to four days old will be surrounded by a 

 cell; inability of a queen to lay impregnated eggs, her 

 spermatheca having become emptied; great number of 

 worker-bees in the hive, restricted quarters; the queen not 

 having place to deposit eggs, or the workers little or no 

 room to store honey; or lack of ventilation, so that the 

 hive becomes too close. These last three conditions are most 

 likely to occur at times of great honey secretion. 



A queen may be developed from an egg, or, as first 

 shown by Schirach,from a worker larva less than three days 

 old. (Mr. Doolittle has known queens to be reared from 

 worker larva taken at four-and-a-half days from hatching.) 

 In the latter case, the cells adjacent to the one containing 

 the selected larva are removed, and the larva surrounded 

 by a royal cell. The development of the queen larva is 

 much like that of the worker, soon to be detailed, except 

 that it is more rapid, and the queen larva is fed richer and 

 more plenteous food, called royal jell)'. This is an excel- 

 lent name for this substance, as Dr. A. de Planta has shown 



