COMMON HUMBLE-BEE. 249 



fellow workers of the hive in the neatness of their 

 work, the several patches adhering to the outside of 

 the cells contribute much to the rough and clumsy 

 appearance which the interior of the nest exhibits. 



In fifteen days the bee arrives at its perfect state ; 

 its body has become hardened, and is covered with 

 a greyish down, which, on being exposed to the 

 light, assumes a diversity of colours. It gnaws 

 through its prison-walls, assisted by its fellows ; and 

 in a quarter of an hour from the commencement of 

 its exertions, it emerges from its cradle, leaves its 

 nest, and takes its first flight into the fields in search 

 of honey. Its deserted habitation has now the form 

 of a truncated cone, and is made a receptacle for 

 provisions. As her progeny gradually increases in 

 numbers, the mother-bee relaxes in her labours; 

 she leaves to them the lining of the walls and roof 

 of the nest with a thin membrane of wax ; and 

 though she occasionally lends her aid in the con- 

 struction of cells, it is only to give the finishing 

 polish to what the workers have already " rough- 

 hewn." 



The inmates of an humble-bee nest are, as has 

 been stated, of three classes : females, males, and 

 workers. The old female, we have said, is alone in 

 spring. In May, the eggs which she has laid, have 

 been hatched, and produce workers only ; the females 

 and males of the community do not appear till later, 

 none sooner than June, and the greatest number 

 in July. The males have the advantage of the hive- 

 drone in point of usefulness to the community ; for 



