NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HONEY BEE. 69 



their construclion. They are seldom seen, after the swarm- 

 ing season, in a perfect slate, as the bees nibble them away 

 when the Queen has hatched, leaving only their remains, in 

 the shape of a very small acorn-cup. On examining the 

 Queen cells while they are in progress, one of the first 

 things which excites our notice, is the very unusual amount 

 of attention bestowed upon them by the workers. There is 

 scarcely a second in which a bee is not peeping into them, 

 and just, as fast as one is satisfied, another pops in its head, 

 to examine, if not to report progress. The importance of 

 their inmates to the bee-community, might easily be inferred 

 from their being the center of so much attraction. 



While the other cells open sideways, the Queen cells 

 always hang with their mouth dovmwards. Much specula- 

 tion has arisen as to the reason for this deviation ; some have 

 conjectured that their peculiar position exerts an influence 

 upon the development of the royal larvae ; while others, 

 having ascertained that no injurious effect was produced by 

 turning them upwards, or placing them in any other position, 

 have considered this deviation as among the inscrutable 

 mysteries of the bee-hive. So it always seemed to me, 

 until more careful reflection enabled me to solve the problem. 

 The Queen cells open downwards, simply io save room ! 

 The distance between the parallel ranges of comb is usually 

 so small, that the bees could not have made the royal cells to 

 open sideways, without sacrificing the opposite cells. In 

 order to economize space, to the utmost, they put them on 

 the unoccupied edges of the comb, as the only place where 

 there is always plenty of room, for such very large cells. 



The number of royal cells in a hive, varies greatly ; 

 sometimes there are only two or three, ordinarily there are 

 five or six, and I have occasionally seen more than a dozen. 

 They are Hot all commenced at once, for the bees do not 

 intend that all the young Queens shall arrive at maturity, at 



