80 



QUEEN CELL AND LAKV.&. 



In brood rearing remember that queens hatch in about fourteen days 

 from the egg ; workers in about twenty-one ; and drones in about twen- 

 ty-four days. Any worker egg may be used by the bees in rearing a 

 queen. If the egg is hatched before it is used by the bees, the queen 

 may emerge in less than fourteen days. The queen lays eggs very rapid- 

 ly, sometimes as many as 2,000 or 3,000 per day. She bends her body, 

 in laying and leaves the small white egg, sticking to the bottom 

 of the cell. In the accompanying figure at b b eggs are shown 



at the bottom of the cell, and larvae in different stages at c c. No. I re- 

 presents a queen-cell cut open, to show its construction. It is attached 

 to the comb at e. The part removed is shown at d; the queen larvaj at 

 b, and the royal jelly at c. No. 2. shows one of the lame taken from 

 its cell. And No. 3. the same just before it begins to spin its cocoon. 



