CHAP. X. FEMALE HUMBLE BEES. 355 



their cells in May and June, while the males and fe- 

 males seldom appear before August. The food assigned 

 to the grubs of the first, consists of honey and pollen 

 mixed ; but such as are destined to become males or 

 females, are nourished entirely with pure honey. It is 

 a remarkable fact, that the instinct of these larger fe- 

 males is not developed all at once. When they are first 

 hatched, in autumn, not being in a condition to be- 

 come mothers, they are no object of jealousy to the 

 small queens, and are employed in the ordinary labours 

 of the parent nest. All this time, the building instinct 

 seems as if it were in suspense, and does not manifest 

 itself until the spring ; then it is that the maternal sen- 

 timent impels them at the same time to lay eggs, and 

 to fabricate the cells which are to contain them. 



(357.) The small females differ not in size from the 

 workers, but their office and their instincts are very 

 different. Like those of the wasps and honey bees, 

 these minor queens produce only male eggs, which come 

 out in time to fertilise the young females that live 

 through the winter, and are the founders of the spring 

 colonies, M. Huber conjectures that these also are 

 fed with a peculiar food : they are generally attended 

 by a small number of male suitors, which follow in 

 their train. M. Huber kept a nest under a glass : as 

 he was watching this, upon one occasion, at midnight, 

 he observed the inhabitants in a state of great agitation. 

 Many were engaged in making a cell ; but he observed 

 that the queen-mother, who is always very jealous of 

 her pigmy rivals, came repeatedly to interrupt the work, 

 and drive the labourers away. This, however, was 

 resented ; the queen, herself, was at last driven back by 

 the others, who pursued her to the bottom of the nest, 

 beating their wings with the utmost fury. The cell 

 was then completed ; and two of the lesser females de- 

 posited eggs in it at the same time. The queen-mother, 

 however, was not to be daunted ; in a paroxysm of 

 jealous rage, she returned to the newly-constructed 

 cell, chasing away her more feeble rivals, put her 

 AA 2 



