12 SUCCESSFUL BEE-KEEPING. 
hatched from eggs laid by either a fertile or an unfer- 
tile queen. The average time of maturity of a worker 
bee from the egg is twenty-one days ; drone twenty-four, 
queen about eighteen. ne 
Having thus glanced at the different classes of bees 
found in a hive, in its prosperous condition, we will now 
take a look at the interior of the honied temple, witness- 
ing their labors, noting the manner of their development, 
and the more prominent characteristics of each class. 
THE QUEEN. 
‘* First of the throng, and foremost of the whole, 
One stands confessed the sovereign and the soul.’’ 
The queen lays all the eggs, and continues this labor 
the whole year round, the least brood, in our climate, being 
found in December. . In January the brood increases, and . 
more and more rapidly as spring approaches. The great- 
est amount of brood is found in June or July, or exactly 
at that point of time when the old queen leads out the 
first swarm of the current year. Indeed, the lack of cells 
in which to deposit her egos, appears to be one of the 
causes of the issue of the first swarm, for it is found 
that the queen becomes much agitated on finding the 
breeding cells all occupied, even though the hive be not 
half full of comb. The workers, however, instinctively 
prepare for the migration of the mother, by providing 
cells for the rearing of young queens to supply her place. 
These cells are constructed on the extreme edges of the 
combs, and are in appearance not very unlike small acorn 
cups, with their open ends downward, attached at the 
base or upper end to the worker cells, which are nearly | 
horizontal. Whether the queen herself deposits the eges 
