68 INSECTS. 



(6) The passageways inside. 



(c) Its roof : will it shed water ? 



(d) Its floor. 



Within the nest find : 



1. Yellowish food masses of mixed pollen and honey, 

 containing 



(a) Small clusters of white, oblong, or elliptical eggs. 



(5) The young which have hatched from other eggs, 

 white, wormlike creatures of various sizes, feeding on the 

 pile of common food. 



2. Cells: 



(a) Standing open, like yellow pots (or sometimes filled 

 and closed), containing stored honey. 



(6) Capped over, and containing young. 



Within the nest may often be found some of the smaller 

 insects, which are parasites of the bumblebee. 



Life History. Here in the nest is disclosed the life 

 history of the bumblebee. In its life there are four 

 stages. 



The first stage is the egg. 



The second stage is the wingless, footless, wormlike 

 creature which we call the larva. The larva is very 

 small when it emerges from the egg, but it grows rapidly, 

 for its sole business is eating; and. when it is fully grown, 

 it spins a silken cocoon about itself and enters upon the 

 next stage. 



The third stage is the pupa. In the pupa stage it 

 remains quietly concealed within its cocoon, over which 

 the workers spread a thin layer of wax, making a cell 

 out of it. But though inactive, very important changes 

 are taking place in the pupa; for when, after a time, it 

 cuts a way for itself through the top of its cell, it comes 

 forth, not the wormlike larva which went in, but a fully 

 developed bumblebee. 



