Bo'mbus, the Bumble- Bee. 171 



The worker-bees are only half as large 

 as the queens, though they vary a good 

 deal in size. Sometimes the eggs laid in 

 corners, or under the large cocoons, hatch 

 into poor little larvae, that have no chance 

 to grow. So they make tiny little cor 

 coons, and hatch out into funny 

 little bits of bumble-bees. Some-' 

 times these little dwarfs are no a Dwarf. 

 larger than honey-bees. But, I can tell you, 

 they feel as big as anybody. They buzz 

 about and gather pollen and honey like 

 the other bees. 



Late in the summer Queen Bombus lays 

 fertilized eggs that make queens. 1 sup- 

 pose the larvae are fed on all the bee-milk 

 they want, and so become queens instead 

 of workers. Queen Bombus, also, toward 

 the end of the summer lays unfertilized 

 eggs, and of course these hatch into drones. 



Bumble-bee queens do not kill each other, 

 and the bumble-bees do not kill their drones. 



After the queens and drones are hatched. 



