362 THE INSECT WOULD. 



The cells which compose the nest, and which are to receive 

 the larvae of the insect, are of an oval shape, and of a pale yellow 

 or even of a blackish colour. Fig. 334 represents these cells. 



Fig.334. Cells from a Humble Bee's nest. 



The wax of which they are composed has none of the qualities of 

 that of hive bees, but is soft, sticky, and brownish. 



When the mother humble bee, which at first was alone and built 

 her house single-handed, has made a certain number of cells, she 

 seeks for honey and pollen and prepares a paste, which she deposits 

 in the future cradles. She then lays six or seven eggs in each. 

 The larvae which come from them live in common, at the same 

 table, under the same tent. The cell is at first only the size of a 

 pea ; it soon becomes too narrow, splits and cracks, and requires 

 to be enlarged and repaired many times, a work of which our 

 industrious insects acquit themselves with a good deal of care and 

 attention. Before passing into the pupa state, each larva spins for 

 itself a shell or cocoon of very fine white silk. It ceases to eat, 

 remains at first rolled up, then expands itself little by little, and 

 changes its skin after three days. It passes fifteen days in the 

 pupa state in a quiescent condition. After the normal time has 

 elapsed for it to remain in its hiding-place, it delivers itself from 

 its mummy- like covering, with the help of the mother or the 

 workers. The humble bee then appears, robust, and its body 

 covered with a greyish down. 



When the successive hatchings have furnished to the mother 

 the reinforcement she is waiting for, the workers she has laid 



