e never lays any Queen eggs, for she does not want more Queens
growing up. It is a law among the Bees that there can be only one grown
Queen living in each home.

The Workers, however, know that something might happen to their old
Queen Mother, so, after she has gone away, they sometimes go into a cell
where she has laid a Worker egg, and take down the waxen walls between
it and the ones on either side to make a very large royal cell. They
bite away the wax with their strong jaws and press the rough edges into
shape with their feet. When this egg hatches, they do not feed the baby,
or Larva, with tasteless bread made of flower-dust, honey, and water, as
they would if they intended it to grow up a Worker or a Drone. Instead,
they make what is called royal jelly, which is quite sour, and tuck this
all around the Larva, who now looks like a little white worm.

The royal jelly makes her grow fast, and in five days she is so large as
to nearly fill the cell. Then she stops eating, spins a cocoon, and lies
in it for about two and a half days more. When she comes out of this,
she is called a Pupa. Sixteen days after the laying of the egg, the
young Queen is ready to come out of her cell. It takes twenty-one days
for a Worker to become fully grown and twenty-five for a Drone.

In the hive by the cedar tree, the Queen Mother was growing restless
and fussy. She knew that the Workers were raising some young Queens, and
she tried to get to the royal cells. She knew that if she could only do
that, the young Queens would never live to come out. The Workers knew
this, too, and whenever she came near there, they made her go away.

The Queen Larvae and Pupae were of different ages, and one of them was now
ready to leave her cell. They could hear her crying to be let out, but
they knew that if she and the Queen Mother should meet now, one of them
would die. So instead of letting her out, they built a thick wall of wax
over the door and left only an opening through which they could feed
her. When she was hungry she ran her tongue out and they put honey on
it.

She wondered why the Workers did not let her out, when she wanted so
much to be free. She did not yet know that Queen Mothers do not get
along well with young Queens.

The Workers talked it over by themselves. One of them was very
tender-hearted. "It does seem too bad," said she, "to keep the poor
young Queen shut up in her cell. I don't see how you can stand it to
hear her pi