IIYMENOPTERA. 
t>75 
pointed body. She is developed in a cell which differs 
greatly from the ordi¬ 
nary hexagonal cell of 
honeycomb. This cell 
is large, cylindrical, and 
extends vertically. In 
Figure 797 the begin¬ 
nings of two queen- 
cells are represented on 
the lower edge of the 
comb, and a completed 
cell extends over the F,g. 797.-Comb of the Honey-bee, with queen- 
face of the comb near the left side. From the lower end 
of this cell hangs a lid, which was cut away by the workers 
to allow the queen to emerge. 
The larvae that are to develop into either workers or 
drones, and which are contained in hexagonal, horizontal 
cells, are fed with honey and bee-bread. But the occupant 
of a queen-cell is furnished with very different food—a sub¬ 
stance called by bee-keepers royal jelly. This royal jelly is 
a substance which resembles blanc-mange in color and con¬ 
sistency. It is excreted from the mouth by the workers, 
and is a very nutritious food. 
It has been demonstrated that in the egg state there is 
no difference between a worker and a queen. When the 
workers wish to develop a queen they tear down the parti¬ 
tions between three adjacent cells containing eggs that 
under ordinary conditions would develop into workers. 
Then they destroy two of the eggs, and build a queen-cell 
over the third. When the egg hatches they feed the larva 
with royal jelly, and it develops into a queen. 
In early summer several queen-cells are provided in each 
colony; as soon as a queen is developed from one of these 
the old queen attempts to destroy her. But the young 
queen is guarded by the workers, and then the old queen 
