THE WORKER-BEE. 



73 



Pig. 29. 



COILED IN THE CELL. 



(Magnified. From Sartori and Rausch- 

 enfels.Jb 



count of the pollen, and 

 can be seen through the 

 skin of the larva." — 

 (Dubini.) 



167. ~«'The larva, or 

 grub, grows apace, but 

 not without experienc 

 ing a difficulty to which 

 the human family is, in 

 some sort, subject in the 

 period of youth. Its 

 coat is inelastic and does not grow with the wearer, so that it 

 soon, fitting badly, has to be thrown off; but, happily in the 

 case of the larva, a new and larger one has already been formed 

 beneath it, and the discarded garment, more delicate than gos- 

 samer, is pushed to the bottom of the cell." — (Cheshire.) 



168. "The nursing- 

 bees now seal over the 

 cell with a light brown 

 cover, externally more 

 or less convex (the cap 

 of a drone-cell being 

 more convex than that 

 of a worker), and thus 

 differing from that of a 

 honey - cell, which is 

 paler and somewhat concave." — ("Bevan on the Honey-Bee.") 



The cap of the brood-cell is made not of pure wax, but 

 of a mixture of bee-bread and wax; and appears under the 

 microscope to be full of fine holes, to give air to the in- 

 closed insect. Prom its texture and shape it is easily thrust' ^- 

 ofE by the bee when mature, whereas if it consisted wholly 

 of wax, the insect would either perish for lack of air, or be 

 unable to force its way into the world. Both the material 

 and shape of the lids which close the honey-cells are differ- 

 ent : they are of pure wax, and are slightly concave, the better 

 to resist the pressure of their contents. The bees sometimes 

 neglect to cap the cells of some of the brdod, and some per- 

 sons have thought that this brood was diseased, but it hatches 



Fig. 30. 



STKETCHED IN THE CELL. 



(Magnified.) 



