OF THE INTELLIGENCE AND OF INSTINCT. 



167 



for them ; and to the working bees belong the labours to 

 which the society owes its existence. Of these, some are the 





Fig. 112. Vertical Section of the Wasp's Nest. 



wax-gatherers, which go abroad to collect the food and the 

 materials for the construction of the comb ; to others, called 

 nurses, is assigned the task of watching over the young. 



The working bee for collecting the wax enters a flower, the 

 stamens of which are loaded with pollen. This dust attaches 

 itself to the brush-like hairs covering the body of the bee, 

 when, by rubbing itself with the brushes with which the 

 tarsi are furnished (Fig. 113), the insect collects it into little 

 parcels, which it places on small palettes, hollowed out on 

 the surface of its hind limbs (Fig. 114). By the aid of 

 mandibles the working bees also detach from the surface of 



