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CHAPTER VIII. 
SOCIAL ECONOMY OF WASPS. 
HISTORY OF THE COLONY. LARVAL PERIOD. LARVZ OF THE HONEY- 
BEE. DEVELOPMENT OF THE BROOD. THEIR SOCIAL LIFE, HABITS 
OF WASPS. THEIR DISEASES. 
In the last chapter we traced the history of a 
wasps’ nest from its first beginning to its decay and 
ultimate destruction, and noticed the chief characters 
by which the work of the different species may be 
distinguished, We must now, to some extent, go 
over the same ground again, tracing the history of 
the living occupants of these nests during the few 
weeks to which their existence is limited. Much of 
this information is to be obtained by watching the 
wasps at work, and by examining the combs after the 
nests have been taken. But there are other points 
only to be ascertained by experiments, such as 
Nature herself may make for us, or which our own 
studies may suggest. It will be most convenient to 
keep these branches of the subject separate, that the 
particular experimental inquiry may supplement the 
more general survey of the social economy of the 
swarm. 
The mother-wasp, as we have seen, on awaking 
from her winter’s sleep sets about the construction 
