LIFE-HISTORY OF BOMBUS 33 



cellfuls, before any are laid on the other side. It is 

 an interesting fact that the cocoons on which these 

 eggs are laid are not absolutely upright but are in- 

 clined inwards (see diagram), and the egg-cells are 

 constructed, not on the heads of the cocoons, where 

 they would hinder the exit of the emerging bees, 

 but on their outer sides. 



As each cell seldom contains less than six, and 

 sometimes twelve or more eggs, a large family is 

 soon in course of development. 



Fig. io. Diagram of the initial stages of the Humble-bee's Brood, 

 shown in vertical section. 



The larvae that hatch from the first of these 

 batches of eggs are generally approaching the most 

 rapid period of their growth when the first workers 

 emerge, and so the services of the latter commence 

 at the very time they begin to be most needed. 



A little reflection will make it clear that the 

 cocoons in the first cluster and the cells of eggs 

 upon them are arranged in the best manner that 

 could be devised for deriving the most heat from 

 the queen's body. The cocoons are pressed close 

 together, those in the middle often assuming a 

 hexagonal shape (seen by cutting the cluster horizon- 

 tally into two parts), like the cells of a honey-bee's 



D 



