Curiosities & wonders > New observations on the natural history of bees

LAY FERTILE EGGS.
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contiguous to those containing the worms
destined for queens. The larva; of workers
that have accidentally received portions of
so active an aliment, must be more or less
affected by it'; and their ovanes should ac¬
quire a degree of expansion. But this ex¬
pansion will be imperfect; why? because
the royal food has been administered only
in small portions, and, besides, the larva;
having lived in cells of the smallest dimen¬
sions, their parts cannot enlarge beyond the
ordinary proportions. Thus, the bees pro¬
duced from them will resemble common
workers in size, and in all the external cha¬
racteristics. Added to that, they will have
the faculty of laying some eggs, solely from
the effect of the trifling portion of royal jel¬
ly mixed with their aliment.
That we may judge of the truth of this
theory, it is necessary to consider fertile
workers from their origin; to investigate
whether the cells, where they are brought
up, are constantly in the vicinity of the
royal cells, and if their food is mixed with
particles of the royal jelly. Unfortunately
the execution of these experiments is very
difficult. When pure, the royal jelly is re¬
cognised by its sharp and pungent taste?