46 
IMPORTANT AND FAMILIAR INSECTS 
In a honey-bee colony there are three classes of bees, — 
the perfect females or queens, the males or drones, and the 
imperfect females or workers. There are 
generally one queen, a few hundred drones, 
and twenty to fifty thousand workers. 
The queen alone can lay eggs. She can 
lay an unfertilized egg which hatches into 
a drone, or she can lay an egg which is 
fertilized. This fertilized egg hatches into 
a queen or a worker, according to the food 
and the size of the cell which are provided 
by the workers' Thus the decision as to 
whether the young bee shall be a queen 
or a worker rests with the workers them¬ 
selves. They also have the power to 
supersede the queen, or to raise a new 
queen in case of the sudden death of 
the old one. These powers are rightly intrusted to the 
workers — the great majority. 
The eggs are placed by the 
queen in cells, and, after hatch¬ 
ing, are fed by the young workers, 
called nurses. The larva is fairly 
bathed in food. In a few days 
the larva is full grown, and then 
pupates. The workers now cap 
over the cell with wax, and in 
about twenty-one days the young 
bee cuts away the cap and crawls 
out — an adult provided with the 
four wings, mouth parts, antennae, 
and six legs of the honey-bee. 
Workers are provided with the 
sting which is a weapon of both 
defense and offense. The queen 
Figure 35. — a , Honey-bee Egg ; 
b , Young Larva ; c , Old 
Larva; d , Pupa. v 
Three times natural size. 
Figure 34. — Three 
Queen Cells. 
In the brood comb 
of the honey-bee. 
