160 ROMANCE OF THE INSECT WORLD CHAP. 



spheroidal* mass varies from about three to about thirty. 

 Intermingled with the breeding cells and cocoons at 

 certain times of the year, especially on the sides and 

 in the middle of the nest, are likewise small goblet-like 

 vessels filled with a very pure honey. They consist 

 of cocoons deserted by the pupae, but it falls to the lot 

 of the workers to refurbish the disused cells for the 

 fresh purpose. Fragments of silk left hanging from 

 the orifices at the emergence of the young bees they 

 cut away, and, after shaping the rims a little, they 

 strengthen them by rings or elevated tubes of wax, 

 completing the renovation of each cup by the addi- 

 tion of an internal lining of the waxen material. 

 The stored honey may serve to moisten the food of 

 the larvae, probably it also acts as nourishment to 

 the working colony when prevented by unfavourable 

 weather from seeking it abroad. Occasionally the 

 bees construct receptacles or honey-pots entirely of 

 wax. 



As winter approaches these communities break up 

 and perish, a few fertile females or queens alone surviv- 

 ing, the Methuselahs of their short-lived race. In utter 

 solitude and in a state of torpor they lie in any 

 convenient crevice ; in the rotten wood of decaying 

 trees, under moss in woods, or turf, in haystacks, in 

 the eaves of barns and outhouses, seldom, if ever, in 

 the nest that they have inhabited. Awaking with the 

 sunbeams of returning spring they commence a life 

 of unceasing labour. Diligently they search for fit 

 spots for nest-building, or, in default of suitable 

 cavities that would in some degree abridge their toil, 

 each bee hollows out a small hole for herself. The 



