Bombus, the Bumble-Bee. 167 
Well, Madam Bombus lays her eggs in 
the mass of pollen, and they hatch into 
little larve, like those of the honey-bees, 
only not so small. 
You see, Madam Bombus has to do all 
the work herself; so, I suppose, it saves 
trouble to have the infants cradled in good 
pollen, so they can help themselves with- 
out troubling their mother. She feeds them 
on bee-milk at first; but later, I suspect, 
they have to eat their cradles. 
They grow fast; no doubt they eat a 
great deal of pollen. 
When it comes time for them to change 
into pupe, what do you suppose happens? 
I do not believe you could guess if you 
tried a month. 
You see, they have no wax cells in which 
they can be bottled up. 
Queen Bombus does not cap them over, 
as the honey-bees do, and leave them to 
their fate. She cannot bottle up her babies, 
because she has no bottles. 
