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thorax than the worker. Her wings are comparatively 
short, barely covering one half of her body. The 
queen of the black species i s of a darker color upon the 
black than either the drone or the worker ; differing, 
however, from the Italian species ; the queen being of a 
brighter color than either Italian drone or worker, the 
larger part of her body being of a golden color. 
The queen is hatched from an egg, which, were it 
not supplied with a peculiar fluid, called royal jelly, 
would hatch to be a worker bee ; but if, from causes 
hereafter described, the queen should be lost, or in the 
swarming season another queen is to be raised, the 
bees select an egg in a cell of worker-comb as near as 
possible to the margin, remove the partitions of three 
next adjoining cells, destroy two of the eggs, and nurse 
the selected one. But if there be no eggs in the work- 
er-comb in the hive, any larva of worker-bees, not 
hatched more than three days, is selected, and the cells 
enlarged as above. This larva, as well as the one 
hatching from the selected egg, is supplied with a large 
amount of royal jelly, which the bees, if confined to 
their hive and supplied with water, can obtain from the 
honey and bee-bread stored in their hive. Its taste is 
more sour than that used for feeding the drone or 
worker larvae, and when fresh resembles starch. 
The bees then continue the building of the cell, and 
from time to time increase the supply of royal jelly. 
