100 
Beekeeping 
The nervous system is now well organized, consisting of the 
brain and a chain of ganglia arranged segmentally. The 
second maxillae fuse to form the lower lip (Lb). 
Larval development. 
At the end of about three days of embryonic development, 
the embryo breaks the chorion and becomes a young larva. 
During the larval period the most striking feature is the 
enormous growth of the animal. The illustration on page 
40 (Fig. 35) shows an egg, a relatively young larva, a fully 
grown larva and a pupa 
drawn to the same scale 
and, when it is realized 
that the growth from 
the youngest larva to 
the fully grown larva 
takes place in a few 
days, the rapidity of 
growth is astonishing. 
It should be pointed 
out that the development 
of all insects is not simi¬ 
lar. In the grasshopper, 
for example, a young 
insect hatches from the egg which resembles the adult in 
most respects. Such a development is known as incomplete 
metamorphosis. In the higher orders of insects, there 
hatches from the egg a larva unlike the adult and usually 
more or less worm-like, which when fully fed undergoes a 
complete and relatively sudden change into the adult. This 
type of development is known as complete metamorphosis. 
The bee larva is an extremely simple organism, lacking 
legs, wings, antennae and eyes, and is unprotected by hairs 
or thick chitin. A longitudinal section through the larva 
(Fig. 52) shows that the largest organ is the stomach, as 
is necessary for excessive growth. Being protected from 
enemies and from adverse environmental conditions in the 
Fig. 52. — Diagram of a longitudinal me¬ 
dian section of a bee larva. 
