246 THE HUMBLE-BEE 



the cell, so that no worker could approach. At 

 times her abdomen was much contracted, and it 

 seemed as if she was on the point of plunging 

 herself, head first, over the cell. I supposed she 

 was about to lay some more eggs, and so it turned 

 out, for her movements became frantic, and ended in 

 her inserting the tip of her abdomen into the cell. 

 She seemed in a great hurry to get the eggs laid ; 

 and even while she was laying them the workers 

 attacked the cell, but they did no harm to it. Five 

 minutes later she had the cell sealed over and was 

 guarding it strictly. 



August 6, 8 a.m. Peace reigns in the nest, but 

 the cell has completely disappeared. 1 The waxen 

 canopy was much extended during the night and, 

 no doubt, contains the wax from the cell. 



4 p.m. Another large cell has been made in the 

 same position as the last. The queen goes and adds 

 to it occasionally, but spends long intervals crawling 

 over and incubating different sets of cocoons, quite 

 unconcerned. Three or four workers prepare for 

 their campaign of opposition by planting themselves 

 near the cell, where they maintain a continual buzzing 

 and shaking of the wings. 



4.30 p.m. The queen is laying. 



While the eggs are being laid the tip of the 

 abdomen remains in the cell, and the sting appears 

 through the wall of the cell as each egg passes. 



When the queen lifted her tail out of the cell 



1 I do not think that cells of eggs are often completely destroyed in a normal 

 nest. In this nest the workers' passion had been excited by the change of 

 queens on July 22. 



