284 



THE ANTHOPHILA. 



most remarkable instances of ingenuity in econo- 

 mizing both space and material, is presented by the 

 fact, that, in order to allow the middle of each cell to 

 project backwards a little, it is brought exactly oppo- 

 site to the point of junction of three cells in the series 

 behind it, and closed with three rhomboidal plates of 

 wax, each of which at the same time assists in closing 

 the end of one of the hinder cells. The whole of the 

 cells are hexagonal, except those from which the 

 females are produced, which are pyriform, and com- 

 posed of a much coarser wax than that of which the 

 rest of the comb is constructed. The larvae which 

 are destined to produce perfect females, are fed with 

 a different kind of food from that which is given to 

 the larvae of workers, and, according to many obser- 

 vers, amongst whom is the celebrated Huber, the 

 workers, if deprived of their queen when no female 

 larvae are in the hive, will take a young larva from a 

 worker cell, construct a royal cell for its reception, 

 feed it with royal food, and thus in the course of a 

 short time obtain a new queen. This conversion of 

 a worker into a perfect female is in itself exceedingly 

 wonderful, and it is accompanied by many curious 

 circumstances, which, however, space forbids my 

 mentioning. The fact itself rests on good evidence, 

 and if we consider that the workers are in reality 

 females with infertile ovaries, its possibility even on 

 theoretical grounds becomes sufficiently apparent*. 



* For further particulars of the marvellous instincts of the 

 Hive Bee, I must refer the reader to the celebrated ' Introduction 

 to Entomology ' of Messrs. Kirby and Spence. A cheap work 

 on the same subject is Richardson's * Handbook of the Hive Bee,' 

 edited by Mr. Westwood, which contains an excellent account 

 of the habits and management of Bees. 



