HYMENOPTEEA. 331 



when the larva comes out of the egg till that of its metamorphosis 

 into a pupa, the queen keeps in her cell, rolled up, motionless as 

 an Indian idol in its sacred temple. The working bees visit her 

 from time to time, to see that she wants for nothing, and to renew 

 her provisions. They also carefully inspect the different cells, 

 and assure themselves of the good condition of their 

 nurslings. The pap which they give them as food 

 is whitish, and resembles paste made of flour. It 

 is apparently a preparation of pollen, prepared in Fig . 321. -Larva of 

 the body of the insect. As the larvae increase in fied) Bee 

 size, their food is made to acquire a more decided taste of honey, 

 and to become even slightly acid. It seems, then, that the bees 

 know how to graduate the food of their larvae in such a manner 

 as to bring it nearer by degrees to honey. 



In the space of five days, the larvae are developed ; they have 

 absorbed all their pap, and have no need from that time of any 

 nourishment, for they are about now to change into pupae. Now 

 the nurses pay them a last attention. They wall them up in their 

 cells, closing the openings with a waxen covering. The larvae 

 then get close to the wax covering. In thirty-six hours they have 

 spun for themselves a silky cocoon, in which they undergo their 

 transformation into pupae. The moult, which precedes their meta- 

 morphosis, constitutes a crisis, as with the caterpillars of Lepi- 

 doptera. 



The perfect insect is hatched seven or eight days after its trans- 

 formation into a pupa, the organs being developed little by little, 

 and the young bee is then ready to appear in the broad daylight. 

 It breaks through the thin transparent covering in which it is 

 still swathed ; then, with its mandibles, it pierces the operculum 

 or door of its prison, and opens a way for itself by which it can 

 issue forth. With the assistance of its front legs, it clings to the 

 rim of the cell, and draws itself forward, till it has set free the 

 whole of its body. The other bees lavish upon this newly-arrived 

 little stranger all possible attention to make its entrance into the 

 world easy and agreeable ; assisting and supporting it till it has 

 become quite strong. It very soon becomes strong. If it is a 

 working bee, it is not long in getting to work and in mixing with 

 its companions in labour. 



