36 THE HONEY-BEE. 



are, the possession of a long proboscis for gathering 

 honey, of receptacles for carrying pollen, of a very 

 formidable straight and barbed sting, and brushes on 

 the legs for clearing different parts of the body from 

 the farina of flowers or from dust. 



The worker-eggs are deposited by the queen in the 

 smaller-sized cells of the combs, and are the first 

 laid in a new colony, or in the spring of the year. 



Certain observers have thought they noticed 

 differences in the size of the full-grown workers, and 

 supposed that these variations were connected with 

 diversity of occupations and duties. But as all have 

 their several organs and their whole structure pre- 

 cisely alike, and as little direct evidence of special 

 functions has been adduced, it is tolerably certain 

 that any peculiarities in regard to size must be other- 

 wise explained. Nor is it difficult to discover how 

 these may have been brought about. For, since each 

 pupa leaves behind it some portion of the silken 

 cocoon it had spun, it is clear that after a succession 

 of young bees from the same cells, these must be- 

 come sensibly contracted in extent, so that the later 

 progeny will not have had as much space in which 

 to grow as their elder-born sisters had, and hence 

 are, at least when they emerge, smaller in size. 



Huber, without reference to the above-mentioned 

 fact, supposed that separate duties were undertaken 

 by special bees, at least so far as the gathering of 

 stores and the care of the young were concerned. 

 Subsequent observations, however, tend to show that 

 the latter office is undertaken by the most recently 

 born young, till they themselves have become strong 

 enough to fly abroad in search of honey and pollen. 



