112 WAYS OP THE SIX-FOOTED 



time, probably, it has consumed all the pollen in the 

 cell ; however the mother bee's instinct does not seem to 

 be infallible in this particular, for sometimes she provides 

 more food than her offspring needs. After the larva has 

 thus reached its full growth, it becomes rigid and turns 

 darker in color, and queer-looking seams and excres- 

 cences appear upon it ; these are the cases in which its 

 legs and wings are developing; in short, it becomes a 

 pupa. After remaining in this state some time the pupa 

 skin bursts open, and a full-fledged bee appears, resem- 

 bling its mother in size, color, and general aspect. 

 Meanwhile, the patient mother, who has not shared our 

 privilege of peeping into the cells, knows nothing of 

 what has happened therein, unless, perchance, she 

 remembers her own larvahood. Her experience is a 

 novel one, for her first-born is the last one of the brood 

 that she beholds. Patience is taught to these creatures 

 as an early lesson ; for, of course, the bee that hatches 

 from the first-laid egg reaches maturity soonest. So 

 the first experience of the eldest of the Cerati?ia family 

 is to wait until its younger brothers and sisters above 

 it have grown up. We may imagine that this idle 

 waiting is rather tedious to a little creature with 

 brand new wings which it is longing to spread in the 

 sunshine. 



The next lesson that our young Ceratina must learn 



