75 
her, and both are equally dependent upon the drones, 
notwithstanding they are the acknowledged idlers of the 
hive. Their mutual dependencies is the foundation of 
centralization, and the queen seems to he the acknowl- 
edged head. Site always, unless crippled by accident, 
leaves with the first swarm thrown off. Should this 
not be the case the swarm will immediately return to 
the parent hive again. At certain seasons of the year 
she is very prolific, laying at the rate of two or three 
thousand eggs per day. These eggs are usually depos- 
ited near the centre of the hive, and as the bees 
increase in numbers, she makes to the outer part of the 
combs ; frequently, in well populated hives, the young 
may be found at the extreme edges, as they have plenty 
of bees to cover them. Queens are reared from eggs 
that would, if deposited in worker cells, produce worker 
bees. By giving the larva of such eggs proper capacity 
of cell and royal jelly, (a substance that is said to be 
prepared from honey and bee-bread, and is found only 
in royal cells,) a perfect female is developed. She is 
hatched from the egg in about sixteen days, from the 
time it is layed. She pairs with the drone but once in 
her life, usually within eight days after birth, and 
in the open air. According to Huber, she must pair 
within twenty days or she cannot be fertilized at all. 
She remains fertile about three or four years, but should 
not be trusted more than three, as retarded impregnation 
is evident from the fact, that after three or four years 
most of her progeny will be drones. She has been 
known to live five years; is in embryo the shortest 
time and lives the longest of any bee in the hive. 
