38 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 



In one instance, during the past season, I knew a 

 queen of this kind ; she was quite small, being but 

 little larger than a common worker, and very nearly 

 of the same color ; she emerged from her cell on the 

 eleventh day from the removal of the queen, and 

 consequently must have been reared from larva. I 

 was careful to watch her, and saw her about one 

 o'clock on the second day, issue from the hive. 

 I continued my observations, and saw her go forth 

 five or six different days ; she remained in the hive 

 until about the sixteenth day from the time she 

 emerged, from her cell. No eggs could be found in 

 any of the combs, neither drone nor worker cells, and 

 I could not discover any difference in her size or 

 appearance, as is always the case when queens be- 

 come fertile. I then removed her and gave another 

 queen to the colony. I feel pretty confident that she 

 was not sufficiently developed to become a prolific 

 queen, or even to become a mother at all, unless, 

 indeed, the theory of an unimpregnated queen pro- 

 ducing only drones, is true. I think it quite reason- 

 able to suppose that various points of development 

 may and are occasionally attained, between the com- 

 mon worker bee and the perfect queen, arising either 

 from the fact of the larva being too far advanced, 

 before feeding royal jelly, to be fully developed, or 

 from being reared in a cool situation or imperfectly 

 fed. 



It is of great importance to place brood-comb con- 

 taining eggs from which to rear queens, in a central 

 position in the colony ; if put in a hive that has sent 



