EKES AND THEIR COUNTERFEITS. < 



a clumsy maggot-formed larva, and, being placed at the 

 bottom of a smooth-sided cell, has uo means of seeking food 

 for himself. 



In many instances it is only by the bees travelling from 

 tlower to flower that the pollen or farina is carried from the 

 male to the female flowers, without which they would not 

 fructify. One species of bee would not be sufficient to fructify 

 all the various sorts of flowers, were the bees of that species 

 ever so numerous, for it requires species of different sizes 

 and different constructions. "M. Sprengel found, that 

 not only are insects indispensable in fructifying different 

 species of Iris, but that some of them, as /. jdphinm, require 

 the agency of the larger humble-bees, which alone are strong 

 enough to force their way beneath the stile flag ; and hence, 

 as these insects are not so common as many others, this Iris is 

 often barren, or bears imperfect seeds." 



The tribes of parasitic bees which do not make cells to 

 contain honey or pollen for the separate use of each infant 

 bee, visit the nests of their more industrious cousins, and 

 surreptitiously place an egg of their own in the cell contain- 

 ing the honey or pollen, as the case may be. 



" It was formerly believed," says Mr. Noel Humphreys, 

 " that the egg of the parasitic, bee was placed in the same 

 cell with the egg of the honey-bee, and that being hatched 

 first, the young parasite devoured all the food, leaving the 

 infant of the honey-bee to find himself born to an empty 

 larder, and consequently speedy starvation ; but more recent 

 observation has led to the conclusion that this is not the case, 

 but that the parasitic bee, on entering the nest, selects cells 

 already furnished with honey or pollen, but in which no egg 

 has yet been laid. While the unsuspicious female proprietors 

 of the nest, finding an unexpected egg deposited in the cell 

 they first visit, exhibit no sign of surprise, but pass on to the 

 next, not seeming to be at all disturbed by the presence of the 

 uninvited deposit ; just as small birds make no attempt to ex- 

 clude the egg of the cuckoo, but hatch it, and rear the young 

 intruder along with their own offspring. This occurs in the 

 nests of wild bees constructed in different situations, some 



