The grub then commences what is called its _metamorphosis_--a Greek word meaning “a change of form”--and a wonderful change it is. In sixteen days from the time that the cell was closed up, the fat little grub turns into a perfect worker, just like a caterpillar changes into a butterfly. The young bee is now ready to emerge from her cell, and the porous capping is the only barrier. The little prisoner, however, finds that she has a sharp pair of jaws and so begins to bite the capping. Slowly it is all snipped away, and we see a tiny hole appear, which grows larger and larger. In a few moments out comes one of the antennæ, and waves about as though to explore the world beyond the cell. It seems to give a good report to the little bee, for the biting of the cap is redoubled, and before long, assisted perhaps by some of the nurse bees, the youngster slowly emerges. She is, however, very pale and weak as yet, and so the nurse bees commence to clean and feed her. She soon gains sufficient strength to take an interest in what is going on around, and we may imagine that she is somewhat surprised to find how busy is the city into which she has stepped--every one rushing here, there, and all over, none seeming to take any notice of the young bee, and everybody apparently having something to do, and to be in a great hurry to do it! A fortunate insect is the little bee, none the less; for she has no need to attend school or to have any lessons. She knows all that she need know as soon as she is born. In a few hours’ time, for instance, she will be feeding grubs, just as she was fed by other bees some days before. She will know all about the city, the duties which she has to perform, and the respect which she must pay to the queen, her mother. After perhaps a fortnight or so of nurses’ work she will join the ranks of the foragers, and seek the nectar of the sweet-scented flowers. [Illustration: PLATE XXI From a photograph by] [E. Hawks Queen Cells] This, then, is the history of the birth of a worker bee, of which a prosperous hive may contain anything from 30,000 to 60,000. The history of the birth of a drone is practically the same, except that in his case it takes twenty-five days for the egg to change into the complete insect. CHAPTER XXVII THE STORY OF THE QUEEN Among most nations it is customary for the kingship to be handed down from father to son, but no such rule exists in the bee-city. Although we call one of the bees the Queen, she is not really a queen in the ordinary sense of the word. She does not rule the hive, nor can she command the bees to do this thing or that, and a far better name for her would be the Mother bee.