ECONOMY OF BUMBLE-BEES 



287 



on her tail, and her first step, under cover of the moss, 

 is to surround with wax a mass -of pollen saturated 

 with honey, construct a cell, in which she lays several 



FIG. 61. Nest of Bumble-bee showing the barrel-shaped cells hidden 

 underground in a hollow which leads to the surface by a curved shaft. 

 (After /. G. Wood. From Wood's 'Strange Dwellings.' By 

 permission of Messrs. Longmans, Green &* Co.) 



eggs, then closes it and rests awhile. A few more 

 cells are then built, stored with honey mixed with 

 pollen, and closed. By this time, however, the first 

 larvae have hatched, and only being provided with 



