EDWARD BURGESS. 59 



at the point, which by an elaborate mathematical calcu- 

 lation, has been determined to be that which would 

 require the least material in its construction." 



The use to which these cells are put display instincts, 

 quite as remarkable as the construction of them. They 

 are used for storing honey and bee-bread, as well as to 

 receive the eggs deposited by the queen-bee. Honey is 

 the nectar of flowers, while bee-bread is the pollen of 

 flowers. This pollen is collected from different flowers, 

 and each kind is stored in a separate cell or cells. The 

 carriers do not collect indescriminately, first from one 

 flower and then another. They have their own special 

 kinds to forage upon, so that, when they return laden to 

 the hive, the " house bees " know at once the kind that 

 is brought, and store it in its proper cell. There is one 

 kind of pollen, very much more nutritious and stimulat- 

 ing than the others, and this is reserved exclusively for 

 the queen-bees. When a female larva, three days old, is 

 fed upon this food, she develops into a queen. If the 

 larva is older than three days, this striking transforma- 

 tion does not take place. Whenever a queen is desired, 

 a female egg is deposited in one of the large cells — never 

 a small one — which is supplied with this nutritious 

 pollen, the bees knowing that, when fed on this food, she 

 will increase in size beyond the dimensions of an ordinary 

 cell. 



The other kinds of pollen are worked up into a sort of 

 chyle by the nurses and fed to the common larvae. The 

 larvfe require constant attention during the three weeks 

 that intervene between the laying of the egg, and their 

 passing through the last metamorphosis. When this 

 takes place they are washed, fed and caressed by the 

 nurses and so given a fair start in life. 



Like ants, bees pay great attention to cleanliness, and 

 otherwise show an anxious care for the welfare of the 

 hive. When the weather is very warm there is danger 



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