CH. v.] 



THE HUMBLE BEE. 85 



Fig. 1. a. Cocoon. 



b. The receptacles for eggs. 



c. lioiicy pets. 



are not cells for the young-, as in the comb of the 

 hive-bee, but cocoons spun by the larva before its 

 final metamorphosis. By the sides of these oval 

 bodies, and sometimes covering and concealing them, 

 are deposited ill-shaped masses {^g. 1, b), which 

 constitute the chief object of the labour of these rus- 

 tics. These are tlie receptacles for the eggs of the 

 female, and contain not one egg only, but sometimes 

 as many as thirty eggs {Jig. 2). They are filled 

 with a species of bee-bread, formed of the pollen of 

 flowers, moistened and prepared by the bee, so that 

 the young worm, when hatched, is surrounded with 

 a mass of matter wliich serves the double purpose of 

 food and raiment, nourishing and keeping it from ex- 

 ternal impressions. Besides these receptacles of 

 eggs, the nest contains also open cylindrical vessels, 

 which are filled with excellent honey, destined for 

 the common supply. The humble bee, by-the-way, 

 has a much finer instinct in discovering the nectar 

 of flowers than the hive bee ; for in many flowers 

 the nectary is concealed from the hive bee ; the hum- 

 ble bee, however, finds it out, and taps it in the same 

 manner as a butler gels at the contents of a cask. 

 In this case, the hive bee, like the cunning inhabitant 

 of a city, allows the rustic to gather the treasure, 

 and then waylays and robs it of its load. 

 I.— H 



