20 AUSTRALASIAN BEE MANUAL 



quent metamorphosis, during which time a wonderful 

 transformation is going on from hour to hour. This 

 includes the pupa or nymph period, and lasts altogether 

 thirteen days for workers and fourteen and a half for 

 drones ; and at length, on the twenty-second day from 

 the laying of the egg in the former, or on the twenty- 

 fifth day in the latter case, the fully formed bee cuts 

 through the capping of the cell with its mandibles, and 

 emerges complete in every respect, and ready, without 

 any previous training, education or experience, to fulfil 

 its functions, to execute all the delicate operations, and 

 to observe those rules of conduct which appear to us 

 (and justly) to be such marvels of intelligence, 

 ingenuity, dexterity and even foresight. 



Fig. 8. WORKER EGG LARVAE AND QUEEN CELLS. 



The cells in which queen, or perfect female eggs are 

 laid and developed differ widely from those of the 

 workers and drones; in the natural state, they are 

 only built in the swarming season, or in cases where 

 the colony has become queenless ; in the former case 

 the cells are laid out for the purpose on the under side, 

 in a depression, or on the edges of the comb, as shown 

 in Fig. 8, which exhibits, on an enlarged scale, the top 



