CREATION BY EVOLUTION 



The next stage toward the final product — that is, the 

 honey-bee with its hive — is that of the bumble-bee. The 

 hive of the bumble-bee, unlike that of the honey-bee, dies 

 down during the winter, and the life instincts of the com- 

 munity are carried along in the body of the queen or queens, 

 which retire into winter quarters early in the autumn. In 

 the bumble-bee's hive as first formed there are no regular 

 waxen cells, but the larvae grow up in an irregularly-shaped 

 cell, which is sealed into a waxen covering. Over this the 

 queen bee broods like a hen. Here also we have a specially 

 prepared honey-pot situated near the entrance to the hive. 

 This is not a modification of the ordinary cell, as in the comb 

 of the honey-bee. In the bumble-bees the males take part in 

 the work of the hive. The honeycomb is irregular and rough 

 and may or may not be covered by a waxen dome. The 

 queen bumble-bee lays only 200 to 400 eggs, which is a 

 small number compared with the tens of thousands laid by 

 the queen honey-bee. In the hive of the honey-bee we have 

 true and exact hexagonal cells, each wall of which takes part 

 in forming one side of the surrounding cells. Some of the 

 cells are rather bigger, and these contain the heavy, over- 

 grown drones. Others (but only a few) are still bigger and 

 form irregular lumps of thick wax. Each of these big cells 

 houses an egg, which is destined to become a queen. Other 

 cells are set apart for the storage of pollen and still others 

 for the storage of honey; but of course most of the cells that 

 form the comb contain a single egg, which produces a grub 

 or larva that receives hourly attention from the sterile work- 

 ers, who act as foster mothers. 



It has now been shown that there is a gradual development 

 or evolution from a single pair of bees that make a single 

 cell, isolated and self-contained, through a series of grades. 

 The cells become more and more packed together till they 



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