no ASSOCIATION OF ORGANISMS THE WEB OF LIFE 



proportion of pollen being added. When a cell is of full size it 

 is lined with a mixture of pollen and honey, several eggs are 

 laid in it, and a roof is put on. After several days' rest the 

 next cell is made, and stocked in the same way. About the time 

 that the second cell is completed duties of another kind are added 

 to the tale of work. For, meanwhile, the eggs first laid have 

 hatched out, and the bee-grubs, having exhausted their scanty 

 store of provisions, require feeding. Tp do this their mother 

 bites a hole in the enclosing cell, and supplies honey from her 

 mouth as required. Here, and in other cases, the " honey" is 

 not the same thing as the " nectar " found in flowers. A bee 

 swallows the latter, taking it into a crop or " honey-bag", into 

 which the gullet dilates. Within this receptacle it undergoes 

 a kind of fermentation by which it is converted into honey. So 

 far the life-history is much like that of a solitary form, all the 

 work being done by the mother. But in the next stage division 

 of labour begins to play an important part. The full-fed grubs 

 spin silken cocoons, and pass into the quiescent or pupa stage, 

 from which they emerge as " workers ". By gnawing away the 

 wax the queen assists their escape from the enclosing cell. As 

 workers become numerous they justify their name by under- 

 taking the labours of building and storing, ultimately enabling 

 the queen to devote herself entirely to egg -lay ing. For each 

 egg a separate cell is constructed. As the community increases 

 in size small females may be produced, and towards autumn larger 

 "drone cells" are made, and still larger "queen cells". It is 

 stated that these are not stored with food, the corresponding 

 grubs being from the first assiduously nursed by the workers. 

 By the time that drones and queens are mature the community 

 has attained its full size, and may consist of from 300 to 400 

 individuals, under favourable circumstances. The pairing of the 

 young queens in the course of a nuptial flight constitutes the 

 climax of the year's drama, for as winter approaches the temporary 

 community becomes disintegrated. All the workers and drones 

 perish, together with many of the queens, but some of the latter 

 live through the winter in a torpid state to found fresh societies 

 the following spring. It should be added to this account that 

 when the community is in full working order special unclosed 

 cells are made, to be stored with honey or pollen for general use. 

 These "honey tubs" and "pollen tubs" serve as a larder, which 



