COMB OF THE HUMBLE BEE. 91 



hive bee, nor is it applied to such exquisite archi- 

 tecture; it is brown and soft, but well adapted to 

 the rude works of their nest. It is formed in wax- 

 pockets similar to those of the hive bee, and is 

 moulded in plates to the shape of the insect's body. 

 Unlike the queen of the hive, the foundress of 

 this colony secretes wax, and does so even more 

 abundantly than one of her workers. 



The interior of a humble bee's nest has none of 

 the beauty and regularity of the hive. Instead of 

 a number of vertical combs of wax there is a con- 

 fused and clumsy assemblage of egg-shaped bodies 

 of dirty-coloured wax, placed one above the other, 

 forming a series of horizontal combs, resting upon 

 each other and connected by small pillars of wax. 

 These egg-shaped bodies are of different sizes; 

 those in the middle being the largest, closely joined 

 to each other, and each group connected with those 

 next it by slight joinings of wax. These oval 

 bodies are the silken cocoons spun by the young 

 larvae; some are closed at the top, and include 

 inmates; others, chiefly in the lower combs, are 

 open, the young bees having escaped from them. 



