2 AUSTRALASIAN 
The cells in which queen, or perfect female bees are laid and 
developed differ widely from those of the workers and drones : 
in the natural state, they are only built in the swarming season, 
or in cases where the colony has become queenless ; in the 
former case the cells are laid out for the purpose on the under 
side or on the edges of the comb, as shown in the following 
engraving, which exhibits, on an enlarged scale, the top view 
of a number of worker cells, with the egg and larva in the dif- 
ferent stages of development up to the time of capping the 
cells (in the line marked a); a section of a queen cell (6), 
showing the larva and a supply of the royal jelly, and a similar 
one completed and closed (at c). 
OAT ee ee 
eC 
Fig, 22._WORKER LARVE AND QUEEN CELLS, 
Langstroth, in describing the queen cells, says :— 
‘These cells somewhat resemble a small pea-nut, and are about an 
inch deep and one-third of an inch in diameter. Being very thick, 
they require much wax for their construction. They are seldom seen 
in a perfect state after the swarming season, as the bees, after the 
queen has hatched, cut them down to the shape of a small acorn cup.” 
The material of which these cells are composed is not pure 
wax; there is much pollen mixed with it. The outside surface 
is uneven and indented like the sides of a thimble. The num- 
ber built at one time varies much, according to circumstances— 
sometimes only two or three, but ordinarily not less than five, 
