308 FARM ANIMALS 
of the colony. She moves about at laying time, leav- 
ing one egg in a cell. Three days later, from the eggs 
are hatched the young bees; these are small, soft and 
white—and helpless, without feet or wings. 
3. Nurses.—Unless carefully looked after, these help- 
less creatures would surely die. Fortunately for them, 
they have nurses, whose special duty is to feed and care 
for them. The nurse bees stay in the hive, attend to 
these struggling offspring, and until their charges are 
more mature never go forth in search of nectar as do 
the other workers. These nurses are, as a rule, the 
younger members of the brood. When the new arrivals 
are old enough to take their places they join the other 
workers in gathering food for the community. One of 
the duties of the nurse bees is to prepare the bee bread 
‘for the little ones. They make this in their stomachs 
and disgorge and feed to the grubs or larve. The food 
is highly nutritious, but after two or three days of such 
feeding ordinary honey and nectar are substituted for it, 
4, From grub to bee—\Vhen the grubs or infant bees 
are well started forth a small amount of food, all in a 
lump, is placed in the cell and the cell sealed up with 
wax. The grub or larva consumes the allotment in the 
course of two or three days and then changes into its 
pupal state. It now goes to sleep for 13 days, after 
which time it throws off its cover and emerges as a 
mature bee. To break open the waxed-up cell is its 
next task; this done, the new bee comes out, joins its kin 
and goes to work with the rest of the inhabitants of the 
hive. 
5. Queens.—The nurse bees are ever mindful of the 
welfare of the colony. Anarchy would reign in the com- 
munity were a queen bec not on hand to preserve quiet 
