20 
The cells, when completed, resemble a small pea-nut, 
about an inch deep, and one-third of an inch in 
diameter. 
The walls or sides of queen -cells are very thick, and 
therefore require much wax, which as soon as the queen 
is hatched, is used elsewhere and the cell cut down by 
the bees, until it resembles a small acorn cup. 
While other cells open. sideways, the queen -cells hang 
generally with their mouth downward. The number of 
queen-cells in one hive is from one to thirty-five, but 
usually not over six. 
The queen-cell is left open eight days from the time 
the egg is laid. The egg remains unchanged three 
days ; on the third or fourth day a small white worm 
is hatched from it, swimming in the royal jelly. In 
this way it remains for five days, growing larger every 
day; the workers then close the cell, and she immedi- 
ately begins to spin her cocoon, and in sixteen days 
days from the time the egg was laid, it will be a perfect 
queen. In order to become qualified to lay both male 
or female, drone or worker-bee eggs, the queen must be 
fecundated by a drone or male bee. The fecundation 
of the queen is naturally effected outside of the hive ; 
for this Durpose she leaves the hive between the third 
and fifth day after she is hatched, if the weather is 
favorable. 
