CREATION BY EVOLUTION 



ren females; and the drones, or males. In some nests the 

 wax is mixed with resin or gum, which makes it darker. The 

 inside of the nest, like the inside of the hive of the honey- 

 bee, is dark. Sufficient food, consisting of pollen and honey, 

 is placed in each cell, and on this the egg is deposited by the 

 queen bee or queen bees. Occasionally a bee leaves the nest, 

 and apparently in many nests all three castes are reared in 

 identical cells on a similar diet. There is no such speciali- 

 2ation as that shown in the hive of the honey-bee. Another 

 point of difference is that among the mosquito-bees the cells 

 in which the larvae mature are sealed up. After the egg 

 is laid there is no contact between the larva and the mother 

 or the workers. The drone has not degenerated into the 

 "waster" that he becomes in the hive of the honey-bee but 

 takes part in cementing the wax for the cell walls. The 

 entrance to the hive is guarded during the day by certain 

 sentinels and is closed at night by a mixture of wax and gum. 



When we come to the bumble or humble bee we find still 

 further progress toward the state of things we find in the hive 

 of the honey-bee. The bumble-bee has a sting but seldom uses 

 it, and as the poison is weak the pain it inflicts is much less 

 than that produced by the sting of the honey-bee. On the 

 other hand, when once the bee has stung it can withdraw the 

 sting and use it again. This the honey-bee cannot do; its 

 stinging results in its death. The life of the bumble-bee is 

 less orderly than that of the honey-bee. There is less of that 

 irritating efficiency, and there is much more litter; after all 

 what would life be without litter! Bumble-bees are found 

 nearly everywhere in the world except in Africa and Aus- 

 tralia, but they prefer a temperate climate. There are hun- 

 dreds of species of this genus, and seventeen of these are 

 found in Great Britain. 



To describe the life of the bumble-bee we may begin with 



1:200] 



