MANAGEMENT OF HONEY BEES. 79 
patience or necessity to commence laying is 
such, that in a newly established hive, eggs 
will be found before there are three inches 
square of comb constructed, and even before 
the cells have attained the full depth ; and 
in a well peopled hive, even during winter, 
and while the temperature is chilled by the 
frosts and snows of January, and the bleak 
winds of the following month, the indefati- 
gable Mother Bee is found busied in deposit- 
ing eggs. 
I have said that the queen begins laying 
eges forty-six hours after impregnation. 
This does not hold trueinvariably. <A sud- 
den change of temperature may prolong the 
interval to a very considerable extent. Hu- 
ber had a queen impregnated in October, 
which, on account of the inclemency of the 
season, did not begin laying till the follow- 
ing spring. The eggs, when laid, remain 
fixed on the superior angle of the cell, to 
which they are attached by a viscous matter 
covering them, for three days ; on the fourth, 
the shell, or thin enveloping membrane, 
