50 PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HONEr-BEE. 



110. Duration of Development. — The eggs hatch irt 

 three days after they are laid. The small worm which is- 

 intended to produce a queen, is six days in its larval state, 

 and seven in its transfcjiiiiation into a chrysalis and winged 

 insect. These periods are not aljsolutely fixed; being of 

 shorter or lou.uer duration, according to the warmth of the 

 hive and the care given l)y the bees. In from ten to sixteen 

 days, in ten days, if the larva selected is about three days 

 old ; in sixteen, if newly laid eggs are selected, they are in 

 possession of a new queen, in all respects resembling one 

 i-eared in the natural way; while the e.ugs in the adjoining 

 cells, which have been developed as workers, are nearly a 

 week longer in coming to maturity. 



111. The Yinriix Queen.— Feeble and pale, in the first 

 moments after her birth, the young queen, as soon as she has 

 ac(|uired some strength, travels over the combs, looking for 

 a rival, either hatched or unhatched. 



113. "Hardly had ten minutes elapsed after the young 

 queen emerged from her cell, when she began to look for sealed 

 queen-cells. She rushed furiously upon the first that she met, 

 and, by dint of hard work, made a small opening in the end. 

 We saw her drawing, with her mandibles, the silk of the cocoon, 

 which covered the inside. But, ])robably, she did not succeed 

 according to her wishes, for she left the lower end of the cell, 

 anil went to work on the upper end, where she finally made a. 

 wider opening. As soon as this was sufficiently large, she 

 turned about, to push her abdomen into it. She made several 

 motions, in different directions, till she succeeded in striking 

 her rival with the deadly stinij. Then she left the cell; and the 

 bees, whieh had remained, so far, perfectly passive, began tO' 

 enlarge the gap which she had made, and drew out the corpse of a 

 queen just out of her nymphal shell. During this time, the vic- 

 torious young queen rushed to another queen-cell, and again 

 made a large opening, but she did not introduce her abdomen 

 into it; this, second cell containing only a royal-pupa not yet 

 formed. There is some probability that, at this stage of de- 

 velopment, the nymphs of queens inspire less anger to their 

 rivals; but they do not escape their doom; for, whenever a 

 queen-cell has been prematurely opened, the bees throw out its 



