BEE. 
303 
s6me degree filled up, the bees then add to its 
mouth. Such also they seem to reserve princi- 
pally for the bee-bread; so that to lay up a greater 
store of honey is an object to them. 
‘‘ Of the Laying of Eggs. 
As soon as a few combs are formed, the 
female bee begins laying of eggs. As far as I 
have been able to observe, the queen is the only 
bee that propagates, although it is asserted that 
the labourers do. Her first eggs in. the season 
are those which produce labourers ; then the 
males, and probably the queen; this is the pro- 
gress in the wasp, hornet, humble bee, &c. How- 
ever, it is asserted by Riem, that when a hive is 
deprived of a queen, labourers lay eggs; also, that 
at this time, some honey and farina are brought 
in, as store for a wet day. The eggs are laid at 
the bottom of the cell, and we find them there 
before the cells are, half completed, so that propa- 
gation begins early and goes on along with the 
formation of the other cells. The egg is attached 
at one end to the bottom of the cell, sometimes 
standing perpendicularly, often obliquely; it ha.s 
a glutinous, or slimy covering, which makes it 
stick to any thing it touches. It would appear 
that there was a period or periods for laying 
eggs; for I have observed in a new swarm, that 
the great business of laying eggs did not last 
above a fortnight; although the hive was not half 
