36o 



THE INSECT WORLD. 



spherical covering of moss, made into a son of felt and lined with 

 wax. Fig. 335 represents, in its entirety, a nest of ihis humble bee. 



The workers also take their part in rearing the eggs. They bring 

 the paste, which they slip into the cells to the larvae by a small hole, 

 which is shut immediately afterwards. Later, ihey again give their 



f^'g- 335 -Nest of the Moss Humble Bee {Bovthis musiorum). 



t 



assistance in disengaging the pupae from their envelopes. In short, 

 they make themselves generally useful ; but they hove one bad fault ; 

 they are very fond of eating the eggs laid by the mother. They try! 

 to seize them as she deposits them, or drag them from the cells, and 

 suck their contents. And so the mother is obliged to be incessantly 

 defending her eggs against the voracity of the workers, and to be con- 



