330 



THE INSECT WORLD. 



bee-keepers, and especially M. Hamet,* this division of duties is not 

 positive. The young workers are the wax-workers ; the old ones, 

 collectors of honey, and nurses. However, when the honey-harvest 

 is at its height, all the workers collect the spoil. Every individual 

 is pressed into the service at the harvest time, as with men. 



The eggs are not long in being hatched. From the moment when 



Fig. 320. Portion of the comb, with the eggs occupying the cells. One of the royal 

 cells has been opened by the queen. 



the larva comes out of the egg till that of its metamorphosis into a 

 pupa, it keeps in its cell, rolled up, motionless as an Indian idol in 

 its sacred temple. The working bees visit it from time to time, to see 

 that it wants for nothing, and to renew its provisions. They also 

 carefully inspect the different cells, and assure themselves of the good 

 condition of their nurslings. The pap which they give them as food 

 is whitish, and resembles paste made of flour. It is apparently a pre- 

 paration of pollen, prepared in the body of the insect. As the larvae 

 increase in size, their food is made to acquire a more decided taste of 



* "Cours d' Apiculture." In 8vo. Paris, 1864. 



