42 STUDIES IN INSECT LIFE, ETC. 



sided pyramid, just the shape that is seen when 

 the eighth part of a cube is removed ; on the 

 six edges thus shown the six sides of the cell 

 arise. The walls of the cells are not of uniform 

 thickness ; they become thinner as they near 

 the mouth, which, however, has a thickened 

 rim. These cells are at first all of one size and 

 serve as the homes of the young workers and 

 for the storing of the collected pollen and honey. 

 For after some weeks the inhabitants of the 

 hive begin to think of rearing drones and queens. 

 Appropriate cells for these are now prepared. 

 The drone-cell has to accommodate a bigger larva 

 than the worker-cell and is correspondingly bigger 

 and about one-third deeper, but except in size 

 the difference is negligible. Among wild honey- 

 bees drone-cells are often placed in special drone- 

 combs, but in the artificial hive these cells are 

 intermingled with the worker-cells. The queen- 

 bee cells, however, differ much more widely from 

 the worker-cells. They are, to begin with, very 

 few in number, usually four or five ; thirty seems 

 almost to be a record in a flourishing colony. 

 All trace of a six-sided column disappears ; the 

 cell is cylindrical inside, but irregular and often 

 marked with the scars of worker-cells outside. 



