62 



Beekeeping 



tion may be likened to the simple fission or division observed 

 in the protozoa, by which they increase in number. 



Preparation for swarming. 



As the colony increases in strength, the rearing of brood 

 is no longer confined to the worker and drone cells but 

 special queen cells are built (Fig. 45), in which female larvae 



are fed a specially prepared food, 

 royal jelly, and in which the 

 course of their development is 

 so modified that there result 

 queens with their special organs 

 instead of worker bees. The 

 rearing of queens also occurs if 

 a colony becomes queenless by 

 the death or removal of the 

 queen, provided eggs or young 

 larvae are present, or when a 

 queen is about to be superseded 

 by a young queen because she 

 fails in egg-laying. Queen cells 

 may be built in advance of the 

 laying of eggs in them (pre-con- 

 structed cells), as is usually the 

 case in swarming, or the cells may 

 be built around small female larvae 

 which would otherwise become 

 workers (post-constructed cells), as is necessary in queenless 

 colonies. The eggs from which queens and workers develop 

 are identical, the only known cause of the difference in the 

 course of their development being the special cells and the 

 food provided for the developing queen. 



Issuing of the swarm. 



When the larvae in the queen cells are fully fed, they are 

 sealed over as are other larvae. At about the time of this 

 sealing, the first (prime) swarm usually issues, although it 



Fig 



45. — Group of queen 

 cells. Natural size. 



