1913 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. -53 



that after the pellet had reached a certain size every fresh lot of pollen contri- 

 buted iis forced in as a wedge between the pollen previously gathered and the sur- 

 face of the tibia. The growing lump is occasionally patted by the middle leg to 

 keep it in shape. 



The wax of the bumble-bee is secreted by glands situated beneath the mem- 

 branes connecting the segments of the upper side of the abdomen, not in the 

 underside of the abdomen as in the honey-bee. It is much inferior to beeswax, 

 being soft and stick}', and its color is brown. It varies in tint and softness accord- 

 ing to the species. It is scraped otf the body with the brush on the inner side of 

 the hind metatarsus, and worked up with the mandibles. 



To return to the commencing nest. The queen next begins to construct a 

 waxen cell or honey -pot to hold the honey she collects. It is always formed in 

 the entrance to the nest. When finished the pot is large, being about % in. in 

 diameter. It is very fragile but it remains watertight for about a month, which is 

 as long as it is needed. The picture is from a photograph I took of a honey-pot 

 of Bomhus lapidarivs. In fine weather the queen is so industrious that she fills the 

 honey-pot to the brim with thin nectar in two or three hours, and this is sufficient 

 to feed her throughout the uigiit. 



A constant supply of nectar enables the queen to maintain continuous anima- 

 tion and so to incubate her eggs, which need to be kept warm for three or four 

 clays before they hatch. The larva^, always hidden under their waxen covering, are 

 fed by the queen with a mixture of honey and pollen. She churns up the mixture 

 in her honey-sag, makes a hole in the wax covering with her mandibles, spues out 

 the food amongst the larvse and then' closes the hole. The larvse also feed upon 

 the pollen on which they rest. 



In eleven days from the time the eggs were laid, the larvae, still covered with 

 wax, are full grown and spin their oval cocoons. From these the perfect bees emerge 

 about 22 dq^'s after the eggs were laid, that is to say, if the queen has been able- 

 to incubate the brood contimiously, but a few days longer if, through stress of' 

 bad weather, it ims been allowed occasionally to get chilled. As the brood ap- 

 proaches the time of hatching the queen becomes doubly devoted to it, and she sits 

 for hours spreading her body to nearly twice its usual length over it. At this 

 stage molestation makes her buzz angrily and cling closely to the brood, whereas 

 at an earlier stage it Avould frighten her and probably make her desert. It is in- 

 teresting to note that these first larvfe arrange themselves and spin their cocoons 

 in such a way as to derive the greatest heat from the queen's body, those at the 

 sides being at a higher level than those in the middle; thus a groove is formed 

 just the size of the queen's body and here she sits. This groove, I notice, 

 runs in the direction of the honey -pot, never in the opposite direction across the 

 nest. 



This first brood consists entirely of small workers which help the, queen to 

 gather food and to incubate and feed the succeeding batches of brood that de- 

 velop from the eggs that the queen now lays in increasing numbers. These eggs 

 develop into workers larger and more capable than the first. The queen hence- 

 forward remains at home devoting herself to egg-laying and other home duties and 

 so she enjoys a well-earned rest from the labour of gathering food, a fitting reward 

 for having, single-handed, brought the colony into being through long and patient 

 labour. 



The colony noAv becomes busy and prosperous and honey is stored in the 

 vacated cocoons and also in waxen honey-pots specially constructed to receive it-' 



