I Efe teriilstORY OF LOABUS ay 
inch across, but in the morning after it has been 
emptied the orifice is larger, the height of the pot 
being reduced. The honey contained in the honey- 
pot is of much thinner consistency than that stored 
by honey-bees, from which a great deal of water has 
been removed by evaporation before it is sealed 
over. On a favourable day the queen fills the 
honey-pot in a very short time; in my nests of 
B. lapidarius 1 have often found it brimful at 
9 o'clock in the morning. It takes the queen several 
days to complete the building of the honey-pot 
because of the large amount of wax it requires, but 
the honey is deposited in it as soon as it is large 
enough to hold any. Before the honey-pot is made, 
or afterwards, if the honey-pot is full, the queen may 
occasionally discharge her load of honey on to the 
floor, and sometimes also on to the roof of the nest. 
Although the honey soaks into the nest-material she 
is able to suck up much of it during the night; what 
remains on the floor is evaporated by the heat of 
her body, leaving a sticky residue which glues the 
nest-material together and helps to make it im- 
pervious to moisture. 
In several nests of &. lapedarzus and one of B. 
hortorum \ found that the construction of the honey- 
pot was not begun until after the lump of pollen had 
been made, and I| think that this is usually the case. 
The eggs hatch four days after they are laid. 
The larve are maggot-like, being hairless and leg- 
less, and as they begin to grow they assume a curled 
shape, which is maintained until they are about to 
