124 NEW ZEALAND NATURE-STUDY BOOK 
The brood cells are not all the same size, some being 
considerably larger and longer than others. As soon as the 
nursery cells are complete, the queen begins to lay her eggs, 
depositing one in each cell. An eyeless grub or larva 
hatches out in a few days, and immediately begins to 
devour the food which has been left for its use. It grows 
very rapidly and 
soon fills the entire 
cell, which in the 
meantime has been 
sealed up by the bees. 
It next surrounds 
itself with a silken 
web and _ changes 
into a pupa: or 
chrysalis, from which 
in a short time a 
fully grown and 
fully developed Bee 
emerges. This change 
from the pupa stage 
into the fully de 
veloped form is 
characteristic of all 
insects. 
In other larger 
cells either drones or 
queen bees are pro- 
duced—those from which the former come are called 
drone cells, and those which produce the latter are known 
as royal cells. It is difficult to understand why the eggs, 
which, so far as is known, are all exactly alike, should 
develop into forms so entirely different. The difference is 
said to be due to the food on which the larve are reared. 
