30 THE HUMBLE-BEE 1 
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cover as many cocoons as possible; at the same 
time her outstretched legs clasp the raised cocoons 
at the sides. In this attitude she now spends most 
of her time, sometimes remaining for half-an-hour 
or more almost motionless save for the rhythmic 




Fic. 9.—Nest of B. terrestris showing the groove in which the Queen sits. 
In the Frontispiece the Queen is seen incubating the brood. 
expansion and contraction of her enormously dis- 
tended abdomen, for nothing is now needed but 
continual warmth to bring out her first brood! of 
workers. 
In every nest that I have examined the direction 
of the groove is from the entrance or honey-pot to 
the back of the nest, never from side to side. By 
