78 CLASSIFICATION, PHYSIOLOGY, ETC. 



a fertile worker. I lifted out the comb in which all 

 the eggs were deposited ; there was a thin cluster of 

 bees on it. I soon discovered a bee inserting her 

 abdomen in a cell, and then withdrawing it, in the 

 same manner as done by a queen when laying eggs. 

 This was repeated four times. I then, with a pair of 

 scissors, clipped a small point off each wing, in order 

 to be able to again identify her. I examined this 

 hive daily for some time, but only detected her in the 

 act of laying an egg on one other occasion. She 

 remained in the hive for five weeks after I first dis- 

 covered her, by which time the bees had nearly all 

 disappeared. This fertile worker was apparently a 

 young bee, and was of small size and starved appear- 

 ance, the very opposite of what would have been 

 expected. This fact is good evidence that there are 

 different orders of development (or at least a division 

 of labor, probably according to age) amongst the 

 workers, viz: the nursing bees, field laborers, wax 

 producers, and comb builders. 



The same bee is doubtless capable of performing 

 either of those duties, at different periods of its life, 

 but not indiscriminately at any one time. 



Since the above was written, other fertile workers 

 have been seen in the act of depositing eggs, as fol- 

 lows : 



Previous to the first of September, 1860, a small 

 colony had become queenless, and remained so for 

 some time ; on examination, it was found to have one 

 or more fertile workers ; the colony was on the above 



