The Distribution of the Sexes 



they were built by a single Bee. Here 

 females are found in the centre of the group 

 and males at the circumference, in somewhat 

 smaller cells, thus repeating what the Chali- 

 codoma of the Pebbles has told us. 



One clear and simple rule stands out from 

 this collection of facts. Apart from the single 

 exception of the Three-pronged Osmia, who 

 mixes the sexes without any order, the Bees 

 whom I studied and probably a crowd of 

 others produce first a continuous series of fe- 

 males and then a continuous series of males, 

 the latter with less provisions and smaller 

 cells. This distribution of the sexes agrees 

 with what we have long known of the Hive- 

 bee, who begins her laying with a long se- 

 quence of workers, or sterile females, and 

 ends it with a long sequence of males. The 

 analogy continues down to the capacity of the 

 cells and the quantities of provisions. The 

 real females, the Queen-bees, have wax cells 

 incomparably more spacious than the cells of 

 the males and receive a much larger amount 

 of food. Everything therefore demonstrates 

 that we are here in the presence of a general 

 rule. 



But does this rule express the whole truth? 



1x9 



