132 The Bee People. 



heads; it is very nutritious, and is the 

 same as the royal jelly with which the 

 queen is fed. They place the food in the 

 cell with the larva, and watch to see that 

 it always has enough. They feed it with 

 honey and pollen as it grows older; and 

 how it does eat! 



In a few days it has grown so large 

 that it almost fills its cradle-cell. 



It would not do to let this ravenous 

 infant grow entirely out of bounds, but 

 I doubt if you could guess what the nurse- 

 //bees do to prevent it. 

 They simply stop 



.feeding it. 

 That is certainly a 

 sure way to check its 

 vgrowth ; only most 

 babies, if treated so, would make up their 

 minds that life without dinner was not 

 worth living, and would die right off. 



But bee-babies do not die ; they wait 

 to see what will happen next. 



