THE QUEEN. 45 



not ordinarily trMnsporl tlie eggs of tlie queen from one cell 

 to anotlior. Wo shall hazard thi^ oonjectnre, that, in a 

 crowded state of the hive, the queen (le|)osits her eggs in 

 cells on the edges of the comb, some of which are afterwards 

 changed by the workers into royal cells. Such is a queen's 

 instinctive hatred of her own kind, that it seems improbable 

 that she should be intrusted with even the initiatory steps 

 for securing a race of successors. 



(For further particulars concerning the raising of large 

 numbers of queen-cells, see 616.) 



107. The egg which is destined to produce a queen-bee 

 does not differ from the egg intended to become a worker ; 

 but the young queen-larvas are much more largely supplied 

 with food than the other larvae ; so that they seem to lie in 

 a thick bed of jelly, a portion of which may usually be 

 found at the base of their cells, soon after they have hatched, 

 while the food given to the worker-larvES after three days, 

 and for the last days of their development, is coarser and 

 more sparingly given, as will be seen farther on. 



108. The effects produced on the royal larvse by their 

 peculiar treatment are so wonderful, that they were at first 

 rejected as idle whims, by those who had neither been eye- 

 witnesses to them, nor acquainted with the opportunities 

 enjoyed by others for accurate observation. They are not 

 only contrary to all common analogies, but seem marvelous- 

 ly strange and improbable. The most important of these 

 effects we shall briefly enumerate. 



1st. The peculiar mode in which the worm designed for a 

 queen is treated causes it to arrive at maturity almost one- 

 third earlier than if it had been reared a worker. And yet, 

 as it is to be much more fully developed, according to ordi- 

 nary analogy, it should have had a slower growth. 



2d. Its organs of reproduction are completely developed, 

 so that it can fulfill the office of a mother. 



3d. Its size, shape, and color are greatly changed; its 



