426 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



can liardly be seen ; but in the illustration the Bees are supposed 

 to have gone away, with the exception of one individual. 



I need not in tliis place repeat the well-known facts respect- 

 ing the constitution of the Bees, nor describe the duties of the 

 Queen, Drone, and Worker Bees. Suffice it to say, that the 

 former is the mother as well as the queen of the hive ; that the 

 workers are undeveloped females, which are properly called 

 neuters ; and that the drones are males, which do no work, and 

 have no stings. 



In the illustration, the Queen Bee is seen walking over the 

 oombs, and in this position she exhibits the peculiarities of form 

 which distinguish her from her subjects, and which enables an 

 experienced eye to detect her at once amid a crowd of workers. 

 In the Queen Bee, the abdomen is long in proportion to its 

 width, and the wings slightly cross each other when closed ; the 

 latter being a very conspicuous badge of sovereignty. The 

 drones are easily distinguished by their generally larger size, 

 their larger eyes, and the wide, blunt, and rounded abdomen. 



The lower part of the comb, in the foregi'ound, is formed of 

 cells which are closed at their mouth, and which do not show 

 the hexagonal shape as well as those which are yet empty. 

 Some of the empty cells are shown above, and the Queen Bee is 

 represented as making her way towards them. 



There are three kinds of cell in a hive ; namely, the worker- 

 cell, the drone-cell, and the royal-cell. Of these, the two former 

 are hexagonal, but can easily be distinguished by the greater 

 size of the drone-cell ; while the royal-cell is totally unlike the 

 nursery of a subject, whether drone or worker, and is almost 

 always placed on the edge of a comb. One of these cells is 

 shown in the illustration, and may be seen on the edge of the 

 comb in the foreground. It is very much larger than an ordinary 

 cell, and is built with a lavish expenditure of wax that affords a 

 curious contrast with the rigid economy observed in the structure 

 of the other cells. The difference of size between the worker 

 and drone- cells is shown in the central comb, where the worker- 

 cells are seen below, and the drone-cells above. 



The little grub which is placed in the royal cell is not fed 

 with the same food which is supplied to the other Bees, but lives 

 iipon an entirely different diet, and which is, apparently, of a 

 more stimulating character ; and it is now well known, that if a 



