AFFECTION OF INSECTS FOR THEIR YOUNG. 377 



purveyors is no very simple affair will be admitted, 

 when it is understood that the food of all the grubs is 

 not the same, but that it varies according* to their age, 

 being- insipid when they are young, and, when they 

 have nearly attained maturity, more sugary and some- 

 what acid. The larvae destined for queen-bees, too, 

 require a food altogether different from that appro- 

 priated to those of drones and workers. It may be re- 

 cognised by its sharp and pungent taste. 



So accurately is the supply of food proportioned to 

 the wants of the larvae, that when they have attained 

 their full growth and are ready to become nymphs, not 

 an atom is left unconsumed. At this period, intuitively 

 known to their assiduous foster-parents, they terminate 

 their cares by sealing up each cell with a lid of wax, 

 convex in those containing the larvae of drones, and 

 nearly flat in those containing the larvae of workers, 

 beneath which the inclosed tenants spin in security 

 their cocoon. — In all these labours neither the queen 

 nor the drones take the slightest share. They fall ex- 

 clusively upon the workers, who, constantly called upon 

 to tend fresh broods, as those brought to maturity are 

 disposed of, devote nearly the whole of their existence 

 to these maternal offices. 



Humhle-hees'', which in respect of their general po- 

 licy, must, when compared with bees and wasps, be re- 

 garded as rude and untutored villagers, exhibit never- 

 theless marks of affection to their young quite as strong 



* Dr. Johnson was ignorant of the etymology of this word. It is 

 clearly derived from the Germau Hummel or Hummel Biene, a name pro= 

 bahly given it from its sound. Our English name would be more signi-> 

 ficant were it altered to Hummhig-bec or Booming- (iff. 



