CAKE-MAKING 



devoured its cake of honey, hastens to make a cocoon for 

 itself, and so covers the walls of its home with a soft lining 

 of silk. 



But we must return for a moment to the little mason. 

 When the bee has laid down a foundation, she builds upon it 

 little by little in such a way as to wall in i thimble-shaped 

 cavity, with the opening turned upwards. When this has 

 been done, the insect gives up her occupation of bricklayer 

 for a little while in order to collect food for her future 

 offspring. She hurries away amongst the flowers and works 

 busily, diving eagerly into those of the broom and emerging 

 afterwards with a crop distended with honey and body 

 smothered in pollen. On her return she immediately plunges 

 her head into the cell she has made and disgorges the honey ; 

 then she comes out again and carefully brushes the pollen 

 from her body, so that that also falls in the larder. As 

 soon as she has scraped herself clean she again enters the cell 

 and mixes the honey and pollen into one homogeneous 

 mass or cake ; after which she starts out afresh to procure 

 further supplies. 



When the cell is about half full the bee deposits an egg 

 in it and begins without delay to close up the nest with a 

 lid of pure mortar, working from the circumference inwards 

 towards the centre. The whole of this work requires about 

 two days for its completion. 



Immediately after finishing one cell the little mason 

 proceeds to build another exactly like it, by the side of the 

 first ; then a third, and so on, until there are eight or ten of 

 them in all. 



Now although these cells are closed in on every side, the 

 lids are very thin, and there is little doubt that they would 

 quickly crack if left exposed to the heat of the summer, and 

 be completely destroyed by autumn rains and winter frosts ; 



141 



