110 On Bees. 
the ceconomy of a hive, which, from the accidental cir- 
cumstances stated, the suggestions to which they led, 
and the interesting nature of the subject itself, we were 
induced to examine with very minute attention. This 
instructed us that the bees appropriate the top of the 
hive exclusively to pure honey, intended probably en- 
tirely for their food in winter, as they carefully close 
the cells as they fill them. The middle of the hive is 
their nursery, which :s filled with bees in their various 
stages from a little maggot at the bottom of the cell, to 
a large maggot that completely fills it, and to that chang- 
ing into the chrysalis state where it is no longer fed. 
In this state they are shut up, the mouths of the cells be- 
ing closed with wax, where they remain until they are 
perfect bees. The change appears to be very gradual ; 
for we examined at least an hundred cells, and found 
them from the maggot just shut up, to where the honey- 
parts of the bee begin to appear, though still white, to 
where the bodies turn to a darker colour, to where the 
whole body changes ; to where at last the bee 1s found 
dlive and perfect, but still enclosed. Whether they extri- 
cate themselves, or whether their prison door is opened 
by the older bees is not certain, though from the obser- 
vations we made, the latter is most probable. In the case 
stated where the contents of the hive fell out, we found 
several of the cakes filled with bees, most of which had 
just awakened from their chrysalis or torpid state, but 
were still prisoners. We opened a great many of their 
cells with a needle but with all our care, we injured the 
young bee, which so completely filled the cell that the 
point of a needle found no room. We then thought of 
laying the comb thus filled, on a dish by the side of the 
