DEVELOPMENT OF BEES 
269 
grown backward to form long tubes. The 
rings or segments of the body are now 
marked off by constrictions, as they are in 
the larva. In Fig. 2d the development in 
the egg is practically completed. The im¬ 
portant changes to be noted are: The dis¬ 
appearance of the rudiments of the anten¬ 
nae and legs, the joining together of the 
second maxillae to form the lower lip; the 
completion of the tracheal loops (Tr), and 
the development of the nervous system. 
The dmbryo has by .this time completely 
surrounded the egg, closing up the gap on 
the back as seen in Fig. 2b. The embryo 
next breaks the egg shell and becomes a 
larva, the development in the egg having 
lasted a trifle over three days. 
It is interesting to note that cleavage and 
in general what may be called “the prepa¬ 
ration of the materials,” from which the 
parts of the embryo are formed, consume 
from 42 to 44 hours, or over half of the 
entire period of development. After this 
the embryo develops very rapidly, as shown 
by the three embryos represented in Fig. 2. 
The embryo represented by Fig. 2, a and 
b, is about 45 hours old; Fig 2c, about 56 
hours old; while that shown by Fig. 2d is 
completely developed. 
The yolk, which forms the greater part 
of the egg, remains in the interior of the 
egg, the embryo being formed on the exte¬ 
rior and then gradually surrounding the 
yolk, the lateral edges of the embryo finally 
uniting in the dorsal mid-line. The yolk 
meanwhile is being used up by the growth 
processes and undergoes considerable 
shrinkage. Toward 1 the end of development 
it becomes enclosed in the mid-intestines 
and is finally digested there. 
In respect to their later development 
insects are usually divided into two classes 
—those with a complete metamorphosis 
and those with an incomplete metamor¬ 
phosis. The honeybee is an excellent illus¬ 
tration of the first class, while the grass¬ 
hopper is an illustration of the second. 
When the young grasshopper hatches from 
the egg it is clearly recognizable as a grass¬ 
hopper and would never be mistaken for 
another insect, since it resembles the adult 
in every important particular except that 
its wings are only short pad-like struct¬ 
ures. Moreover, its food and habits of 
life are those of the adult, and it faces 
the same difficulties and dangers. Its de¬ 
velopment into the adult is simple; it is 
little more than an increase in size. The 
honeybee, on hatching from the egg, is, 
however, quite a different creature from 
the adult, being without organs of locomo¬ 
tion ( legs), touch (antennae), or sight 
(eyes). Moreover, its integument is thin 
and not hardened as in the adult. The lar¬ 
val stage in insects with complete meta¬ 
morphosis is a short cut in development, 
by which the young insect is enabled to ob¬ 
tain food more advantageously and to grow 
more rapidly, and, in the case of the bee, 
is also protected from enemies. The bee 
larva is especially adapted by nature for 
rapidly digesting and assimilating food. 
As Fig. 3 shows, its mid-intestine or stom¬ 
ach occupies the greater portion of the 
body of the larvae. As one beekeeper ex¬ 
pressed it, “a larva is all stomach.” For 
this reason and- because of the rich and 
easily digested food supplied by the work¬ 
er bees, and also because the young or 
larval bee is not required to use up any 
energy in escaping enemies or in obtain¬ 
ing food, all its energies being bent on eat¬ 
ing and growing, it is enabled to complete 
its growth in a short space of time. This 
is accomplished in the case of the worker 
bee in a little less than five days. When 
the larva is first hatched it lies bent in the 
fomi of the letter C on the bottom of the 
cell. As it increases in size it becomes 
more tightly curled until, when about three 
days old or a trifle older, it is so large that 
it covers the bottom of the cell with its 
back against the wall of the cell and its 
two ends close together. It should be noted 
that a larva of this age is actually much 
larger than those commonly supposed by 
beekeepers to be three days old and is 
much too large to be used in queen-rear¬ 
ing. Notwithstanding its cramped position 
the larva does not alter its position in the 
cell, but remains curled on the bottom. 
Since the walls of the cell prevent further 
expansion in that direction the larva grows 
in the only other direction possible — that 
is, toward the mouth of the cell. When a 
larva is nearly full grown it fits the cell 
like a tight plug, and if it could be frozen 
or otherwise fixed in this position, when 
taken out it would present a veritable cast 
of the lower half of the cell, reproducing 
