The larval queen is longer and more rapid of development than the other larvæ. When developed from the egg--as in case of normal swarming--the larva feeds for five days, when the cell is capped by the workers. The infant queen then spins her cocoon, which occupies about one day. The end of the cocoon is left open. Some one has suggested that this is an act of thoughtful generosity on the part of the queen larva, thus to render her own destruction more easy, should the welfare of the colony demand it, as now a sister queen may safely give the fatal sting. The queen now spends nearly three days in absolute repose. Such rest is common to all cocoon-spinning larvæ. The spinning, which is done by a rapid motion to and fro of the head, always carrying the delicate thread, much like the moving shuttle of the weaver, seems to bring exhaustion and need of repose. She now assumes the nymph or pupa state (Fig. 26, _i_). At the end of the sixteenth day she comes forth a queen. Huber states that when a queen emerges, the bees are thrown into a joyous excitement, so that he noted a rise in the temperature of the hive from 92° F. to 104° F. I have never tested this matter accurately, but I have failed to notice any marked demonstration on the natal day of her lady-ship the queen, or extra respect paid her as a virgin. When queens are started from worker larvæ, they will issue as images in ten or twelve days from the date of their new prospects. Mr. Doolittle writes me that he has known them to issue in eight and one-half days. As the queen's development is probably due to superior quality and increased quantity of food, it would stand to reason that queens started from eggs are preferable; the more so, as under normal circumstances, I believe, they are almost always thus started. The best experience sustains this position. As the proper food and temperature could best be secured in a full colony--and here again the natural economy of the hive adds to our argument--we should infer that the best queens would be reared in strong colonies, or at least kept in such colonies till the cells were capped. Experience also confirms this view. As the quantity and quality of food, and the general activity of the bees is directly connected with the full nourishment of the queen-larva, and as these are only at the maximum in times of active gathering--the time when queen-rearing is naturally started by the bees--we should also conclude that queens reared at such seasons are superior. My experience--and I have carefully observed in this connection--most emphatically sustains this view.