72 BEES AtfD BEE-KEEPING. 



rearing brood ; it may be needed for that, but yet 1 

 have doubts if a particle is given to the young bee 

 besides what the honey contains- I have known 

 stocks (he continues,) repeatedly to mature brood 

 from the egg to the perfect bee, when shut in a dark 

 room for months, where it was impossible to obtain 

 a drop; also stocks that stand in the cold, if good, 

 will mature some brood, whether the bees can leave 

 the hive or not." These facts prove that some are 

 reared without water. 



WHEN AND HOW BROOD IS SEALED UP IN THE CELLS AND 

 PERFECTED. 



The larva, deriving its sustenance from the food, as 

 has been intimated, continues to increase in size rap- 

 idly until it occupies the whole breadth and very nearly 

 the length of the cell, which generally occurs about 

 the sixth day from the time the egg is hatched, or 

 from eight to ten days from the time it was laid; 

 and this time is varied by the weather, the tempera- 

 ture in the hive, amount of honey being collected, 

 &c. I find authors differing on this point, and con- 

 demning each other for an apparent discrepancy in 

 their statements, thereby insinuating that they were 

 not to be relied on. Time was, when I might have 

 been led into this error, before I had an opportunity 

 of observing the effects of climate and other circum- 

 stances upon the development of brood. Circum- 

 stances make as great, or perhaps a greater, differ- 

 ence in the time of brood maturing as exists in the 



