At a certain time of the year the queen leaves the hive, accompanied by
the drones, and takes what is called her “nuptial flight” through the
air. About forty-eight hours after her return to the hive she begins
laying her eggs, at the rate of about two hundred a day. The eggs which
are destined to develop into workers are first laid, then those which
are to produce males, and lastly those which give birth to females. The
eggs are not long in being hatched, and the larvæ, or caterpillars,
which emerge from them are tended by the workers, and fed by them on a
peculiar paste, which is apparently a preparation of pollen. In five or
six days the larvæ pass into the condition of pupa, or chrysalis, and in
about seven or eight days after this the perfect insect is hatched.
A pound weight of bees contain about five thousand individuals, and
swarms are often found to weigh eight pounds, or even more. A populous
hive will thus contain from forty to fifty thousand bees. In spring,
however, the number is much smaller, amounting to only a few thousand.