_The cells intended for the drones_ are considerably larger, and more substantial, than those for the working bees, and, being later formed, usually appear near the bottom of the combs. Last of all are built the _royal cells_, the cradles of the infant queens: of these there are usually three or four, and sometimes ten or twelve, in a hive, attached commonly to the central part, but not unfrequently to the edge or side of the comb. +Mr. Hunter+ says that he has seen as many as thirteen royal cells in a hive, and that they have very little wax in their composition, not one-third, the rest he conceives to be farina. Such is the genuine loyalty of bees, that the wax which they employ with so much geometric œconomy, in the construction of hexagonal cells, is profusely expended on the mansions of the royal bee-nymph, one of these exceeding in weight a hundred of the former. They are not interwoven with them, but suspended perpendicularly, their sides being nearly parallel to the mouths of the common cells, several of which are sacrificed to support them. "No more with wary thriftiness imprest, They grace with lavish pomp their royal guest, Nor heed the wasted wax, nor rifted cell. To bid, with fretted round, th' imperial palace swell." +Evans.+ The form of these royal cells is an oblong spheroid, tapering gradually downwards, and having the exterior full of holes, somewhat resembling the _rustic_ work of stone buildings. The mouth of the cell, which is always at its bottom, remains open till the maggot is ready for transformation, and is then closed as the others are. Immediately on the emergence of a ripened queen, the lodge which she inhabited is destroyed, and its place is supplied by a range of common cells. The site of this range may always be traced, by that part of the comb being thicker than the rest, and forming a kind of knot; sometimes the upper portion of the cell itself remains, like an inverted acorn-cup, suspended by its short peduncle. "Yet no fond dupes to slavish zeal resign'd, They link with industry the loyal mind. Flown is each vagrant chief? They raze the dome, That bent oppressive o'er the fetter'd comb, And on its knotted base fresh gamers raise. Where toil secure her well-earn'd treasure lays." +Evans.+ In this mutilated state only, and not in the breeding season, could Mr. Hunter have seen this cradle of royalty; for he describes it as the half of an oval, too wide and shallow to receive its supposed tenant. The following sketch affords; a representation of the hexagonal cells of a comb, and also the attachment of the royal cradles. [Illustration]