248 



THE HUMBLE-BEE 



queen failed then to come to the rescue that the eggs 

 were jeopardised. 



August 7, 4.40 a.m. Again the cell has com- 

 pletely disappeared. Peace reigns. 



3.5 p.m. The foundation of a new cell is begun. 



3.20 P.M. The cell wall is already ^ inch high. 

 The workers, which show the usual excitement, are 

 more busy working at it than the queen. They 

 seem even to add wax to it, certainly they take none 

 away. Only one bee works at the cell at a time. 

 At this stage the queen makes no attempt to stop the 

 workers, except on rare occasions when she wishes 

 to work at the cell herself, and then a slight push is 

 sufficient to displace them. 



3.40 p.m. About six workers are busy at the cell, 

 taking turns at the work. It grows in height, and 

 the queen still visits it so seldom that it seems clear 

 the workers are building it and not merely interfering 

 with it. 



The queen had her first egg laid at 4.10, 



and had the cell sealed at 



She lifted her tail out of the cell between the 

 laying of each egg. On each occasion the time her 



