42 THE HONEY-BEE. 



further adds, " as a rule, the glossy black bees are 

 robbers, which have been pursuing their trade for 

 some time." 



A similar difference in size and colour has been 

 often noticed in the case of drones ; and the ex- 

 planation of their occurrence seems to be that such 

 smaller individuals have been hatched in the cells 

 intermediate between the normal drone and worker 

 varieties, a tier or two of such intermediate cells 

 being frequently made, to shade off the difference of 

 size between the two kinds. 



The duties undertaken by the workers constitute 

 a series of operations indicating marvellous skill and 

 apparent reasoning power. It is true that what we 

 call " instinct " a word which merely covers our 

 ignorance seems to play a large part in the direc- 

 tion of the doings of bees ; but the readiness with 

 which they adapt themselves to circumstances, the 

 expedients they adopt to remedy defects in their 

 dwellings or surroundings, the efforts they make to 

 repair losses and to provide for the continuance of 

 the race, appear to transcend the limits of a power 

 actuated by blind impulse alone. 



We have spoken of the brooding over and feeding 

 of the larvae, the sealing of the pupae, the cleansing 

 of the newly-hatched young, as the special duties of 

 the workers. All these offices are performed by the 

 most juvenile members of the family, who thus 

 become gradually initiated into the responsibilities of 

 bee-life, and daily gather strength for the next and 

 more extended duties of citizenship. These consist 

 of the gathering of supplies of honey, pollen, and 

 propolis, the elaboration of wax, the making of the 



