THE SOCIAL INSECTS 



eggs ; from these the grubs hatch in three or four days. 

 Each grub after a time produces a swelling on the sides of the 

 waxen cell, so that the cell is gradually enlarged. In some 

 species the queen opens up the cell at intervals and uses her 

 tongue to inject into it a mixture of honey and pollen. In 

 others the pollen is added in wax-covered lumps at the sides 

 of the original cell. In this way the queen has less contact 

 with her grubs and her behaviour is a modified form of mass- 

 provisioning, whereas the injection of liquid food is a 

 characteristic type of progressive provisioning. In older 

 nests a good deal of wax may be worked into the grass above 

 the cells, to form a waterproof roof. 



The grubs are fully fed and begin to spin their cocoons 

 seven to eight days after they have hatched. The cocoons 

 are oval, made of yellowish silk, and in most species stand 

 in a close-packed group side by side. In fact the group of 

 cocoons looks not unlike an irregular comb, though made of 

 silk and not of wax. In the first brood the cocoons on each 

 side are placed higher, so that the central groove in which 

 the queen sits is preserved. Here she spends much of her 

 time keeping them warm. The first workers usually hatch 

 rather more than three weeks after the egg was laid, and the 

 queen or, later in the season, other workers often help them 

 to bite their way out of the cocoon. Those from the middle 

 of the groove develop more quickly than those from the sides. 



The new-hatched worker is pale-coloured with somewhat 

 matted hair. Her first activity is to take some honey from the 

 honey-pot. However, in two or three days, she is ready to 

 leave the nest and to begin to collect honey and pollen. 

 Provided enough workers have been raised in the first brood 

 the queen will now stay in the nest until she dies, but some- 

 times, when the first lot of workers is too few, she will con- 

 tinue foraging a little longer. 



86 



