, THE liUTTEIiFLY .51 



by the workers, is stored for a time in the crop, where 

 it undergoes certain transformations, and is then regurgi- 

 tated into the cells. The nature of the transformation of 

 the nectar in the crop of the bee is not precisely known, but 

 it is not great enough to prevent the characteristic flavors of 

 the flowers of the Ijuckwheat, orange, and so on, from being 

 retained in the honey. The bee-bread is made from the pollen 

 of the flowers, which is brought into the hive on the hind legs 

 of the workers. When a new queen is needed for the colony, 

 and the queen cells are emptj^, one may \x produced by the 

 workers in the following manner : The partitions between 

 three worker cells are destroyed and two of the emljryos are 

 killed. The enlarged cell is filled with a special nutritive 

 compound manufactured by the workers and known as ro^'al 

 jelly. The remaining embrj^o, fed upon this especially nutri- 

 tious jelly, develops not into a worker I)ut into a queen. 



Of the true wasps (Vespidae^, some are solitary; others, 

 like certain of the bees, rear their families in the nests of other 

 species (guest-wasps) ; while still others are social. The last 

 group includes our best-known species. The colony of social 

 wasps contains males, females, and workers. As in the case 

 of bumblebees, only the females survive the mnter ; in the 

 spring they build small nests and lay worker eggs. The work- 

 ers, when grown, enlarge the nest and care for the numerous 

 progeny of the queen. Our social wasps belong either to the 

 genus Polistes,- which includes the ordinary black, brown, or 

 yellow Ijodied wasps, which build mushroom-shaped nests be- 

 hind window l)linds and under boards (Fig. .5.5) ; or to the genus 

 Vespa, which includes the black and spotted hornets and yellow- 

 jackets, that build great masses of paper combs enclosed in a 



' From vespa, wasp. ^ polistss, founder of a city. 



