so 
FORMATION OF SWARMS. 
peopled hive, after having finished 
her laying o£ workers eggs, lays a pro¬ 
digious number of the eggs of maids, 
and, directed by instinct* the workers 
choose this period for constructing se¬ 
veral royal cells, in which to rear 
up young queens* These cells are of 
a conical shape, and are quite dis¬ 
tinct from the comb, being attached 
to the surface of it by a small stalk, 
{See pL 2. fig. 1.) When the cells 
are four lines high the queen l&ys in 
them, but not in the whole in one 
day. That the hive may throw seve¬ 
ral swarms, it is essential that the 
young females conducting them be not 
al! produced at the same time. 
