Fig. 4.—A. Larva full grown, viewed sideways. B. Larva preparing for pupa state.
The nymph or pupa.—In this condition the insect is at first semi-transparent, and white, with a yellowish tinge. Hour by hour the various organs of the perfect bee proceed in their development, and become more and more discernible through the thin pellicle enshrouding them. On the head, the eyes and antennæ assume their ultimate size and marvellous structure. The legs and wings are clearly seen folded lengthwise along the thorax and abdomen. The chitinous covering of the body attains increasing firmness, and the colour of the exterior deepens to a greyish brown.
At length, in periods varying in the three classes of inmates of the hive, maturity is reached. In the case of queens, sixteen days suffice for complete metamorphosis from the egg to the full-grown insect. Drones require twenty-four days, and workers from nineteen to twenty-two days, according to the warmth of the weather, to go through all their changes.
Fig. 5.—Worker Larva and Pupa in Comb.
When ready to emerge from the cell, the young bee nibbles round the lid of its abode, and bursting its cocoon along the back, it crawls forth in its imago or perfect condition. Forthwith the busy nurses clean it from any remains of its silken covering; brush its legs and antennæ; pull its wings and fuss about it, as if to urge it to action and to arouse it to a due sense of its newly acquired powers. Speedily awakened to its responsibilities, the young bee assumes, as its earliest duties, the tending of the brood-cells, the feeding of the larvæ, and the various offices so recently performed for itself by its slightly older sisters. Then, as strength increases, the wings are tried in flight; the locality of its home is reconnoitred, and in two or three days after its emergence into its complete condition it issues forth on journeys, nearer or more remote, in search of stores for the perpetually recurring wants of the succession of children continually being reared in the hive.
Each complete community of bees consists of three classes; first, the queen, who is the parent of all the offspring; second, the drones, or males; and third, the workers, which are really undeveloped females.
CHAPTER III.
THE QUEEN-BEE
Early Errors as to Sex—The "Mother Bee"—Distinguishing Characteristics—Functions—Attentions paid her—Effects of Loss; how Repaired by Bees—Enmity to Rivals—Length of Life—Egg-laying.