40 "RrES. 



ly.£. IS. 



Eoyal cell. 



f!oats, until its extremities touch the sides of the cell, 

 when they curve, and beg'in to approach each other, 

 until the}' almost form a ring-. The nurse-bees now 

 come to feed it with bee-bread ; the little worm, larva, 

 mag'g-ot, or grub (for by all these names it is known), 

 opens its lateral pincers, and the precious morsels are 

 eagerly devoured. Reaumur sujiposes that this bee-bread is 

 no long-er what it at first was, 'farina merely, but that it is 

 mixed in the stomach of the nursing--bees with honey and 

 water. He even thinks the nurse-bees can alter the re- 

 la-tive strength, as it were, of this mixture, to suit the 

 strong- or more delicate stomachs of the nurslings, as they 

 are more or less advanced in growth. We shall see, by 

 and by, that they can not only do this, but have important 

 objects to attain in so doing-. The larvas soon show the 

 effects of such good feeding-, by nearly filling- up the whole 

 space of their cells. That is the signal for a new operation. 

 The nursing--bees now seal up the cells with a light-brown 

 cover. No more luxurious feeding- at present. The larva 



