HYMEXOPTERA. 



151 



their eggs, from whicli are derived individuals called 

 ivorJcers, who assist their common mother. To construct 

 their nest or vespiary, these insects, by the aid of their 

 mandibles, detach j^ieces of bark or old wood, which they 

 reduce to a sort of paper-like paste. Of this they form 

 the combs : these are generally horizontal, suspended by 

 pedicles, and composed of hexagonal cells, serving for the 

 lodgment of the larvce and pupa?. The combs are ranged 

 in stages parallel to each other at regular distances, and 

 are joined together at intervals by little columns that sup- 

 port them. The whole is built sometimes in the open air, 

 sometimes in the hollow of a tree, and some are enclosed 

 in a common envelope, according to the species. It is 

 only in the beginning of autumn that male wasps are 

 found in the vespiary; the young females make their 

 appearance at the same time. About the month of No- 

 vember, the young wasps that have not completed their 

 last metamorphosis, are put to death, and thi'own out of 

 the cells by the neuters, who, as well as the males, perish 

 when cold weather arrives; so that the preservation of 

 the species is confided exclusively to the few females 

 who resist the inclemency of the winter, and survive till 

 sjDring. 



The Bees (Ajyis)-) A society of bees consists of indi- 

 viduals of three different 

 kinds; namely, the "work- 

 ers," or " labourers," tho 

 drones, and one solitary fer- 

 tile female called the queen- 

 bee. The workers are very 

 numerous. In a well-popu- 

 lated hive their average 

 number is from fifteen to 

 twenty thousand. They are 

 of smaller size than the 

 drones ; from which they 

 are moreover distinguish- 

 able by their spoon- shaped 

 mandibles, and by the struc- 

 ture of their hind legs, 

 which are fui-nished with ex- j,^^^ ,o9.-festoon of wax-makers. 

 cavations upon their outer 



sm'face surrounded by haii's called " baskets," in which 

 they convey the pollen of flowers collected in the gar- 



