152 HYMENOPTERA. 



den. The males, or drones, when at their full comple- 

 ment, number from six to eight hundred in a hive of ordi- 

 nary size ; they are slightly larger than the working bees, 

 are not furnished with a sting, and have a shorter pro- 

 boscis ; the reason of their being so numerous would appear 

 to be simply to allow the queen-bee to select her own 

 mate, out of her numerous suitors, for after she has made 

 her selection, they are simultaneously butchered by the 

 working bees, and cast forth from the hive as useless 

 encumbrances. The queen-bee alone, amidst this nume- 

 rous assemblage, is capable of laying eggs, a circumstance 

 easily accounted for when we reflect upon her extraordi- 

 nary fertility. The working bees, according to Huber, 

 are divided into two classes, the wax-workers, to whom is 

 intrusted the charge of procuring food and furnishing the 

 materials for building the comb, and the nurses, which 

 are of smaller size, occupy themselves entirely with domes- 

 tic duties, and to whom is intrusted the nursing of the 

 young brood. As the honey-bee is not instructed by 

 its instinct to construct a nest protected by any general 

 covering, as is the case with the wasps and termites, it 

 is obliged to select some cavity in which to build : this is 

 sometimes a hollow tree, but more generally the hive, 

 artificially prepared for its reception. In this retreat the 

 workers construct their combs, made up of an immense 

 assemblage of hexagonal cells, in which they educate their 

 young brood, and store away provisions for the use of the 

 community. The combs are always suspended perpen- 

 dicularly and parallel to each other, 

 leaving sufficient space between them to 

 afford passage to the insects. The cells 

 are thus placed horizontally. Skilful 

 geometricians have demonstrated that 

 the shape of the individual cells is pre- 

 cisely that which is most economical as 

 relates to the expenditure of wax used 

 in their construction, as well as that 

 calculated to insure the greatest pos- 

 sible space. The bees, however, are 

 able to modify their form according to 

 FIG. no. PROBOSCIS circumstances. With the exception of 

 such as are destined for the reception 

 of the royal brood, these cells are all nearly of the same 

 size ; some are used as cradles wherein the young are 



