66 TREATISE ON THE 
the fact, that it sometimes exercises the func- 
tions of a mother. T'o account for this ap- 
parent anomaly, we must remember that it 
has been ascertained by minutely accurate 
dissection, that all the workers are females, 
though of imperfect organization, a fact con- 
firmed by the very circumstance I am now 
discussing. We must also keep in mind, that 
the larva of a queen is nourished with food 
of a different kind from that of common Bees ; 
and this difference, in conjunction with a 
more roomy cell, has, in the opinion of na- 
turalists the effect of expanding the ovarium, 
and qualifying her to become a mother. It 
is evident, therefore, that, if the larva of a 
common Bee, were fed with the royal jel- 
ly, the imperfection in her bodily organs 
would, as far at least as depended on the 
nature of the food, be removed, and she 
would become capable of laying eggs. Now 
this does occasionally take place; some of 
the royal food is dropped, probably by acci- 
dent, into some of the cells adjoining that of 
the queen, and the Bees therein reared ac 
