248 HUMBLE-BEES. 



that period, success attends her exertions, for it is 

 only in its first stage that the egg is sought after by the 

 workers. 



In four or five days the eggs are hatched. The lar- 

 vae, which differ from those of the hive-bee in having 

 their sides marked by irregular transverse black spots, 

 feed primarily on the magazines previously deposited 

 beside them, and are afterwards supplied by the work- 

 ers, till they begin to spin their cocoons. In this 

 operation, each larva separates itself from the group 

 to which it has hitherto been attached, forming a 

 lodgement for itself under the roof of the same roomy 

 apartment where it had lived in society. Males and 

 females are bred in the same cell and fed in the same 

 manner, and the cocoons of both are seen mingled 

 together. It may seem difficult to comprehend how, 

 in a cell of such small dimensions, the larvae can find 

 room to grow, and separately to spin their cocoons. 

 The fact is, the cells acquire, in the meantime, a 

 great addition in point of dimensions. As the inmates 

 increase in size, the lateral pressure of their bodies 

 bursts the slender walls of the cell, and the workers 

 instantly set about repairing the rent, which they do, 

 not by bringing the edges together, but by placing a 

 large patch upon it, the full extent of the opening, 

 and, of course, augmenting by so much the capacity 

 of the cell. A succession of rents, caused by the 

 growth of each of the larvae, is followed by a suc- 

 cession of patches and additions, till, at last the cell 

 is augmented to four or five times its original size ; 

 and, as the operators by no means resemble their 



