The Bee. 123 



dresses ; the eaddis-worm glaes together a movable for- 

 tress of sticks and stones or a mossy covering of leaves, 

 in which it conceals its greedy appetite and ugly jaws ; 

 and many kinds of bees and wasps tunnel stems or burrow 

 in the earth, but one of the most remarkable insect homes 

 is the honeycomb of the hive bee. Before examining the 

 home, however, we must make the acquaintance of the 

 other members of the family. 



Fig. 2. 



We have studied only the workers ; but every colony 

 must also have a queen, and during part of the summer, 

 some drones. The queen, or mother bee, does nothing 

 but lay eggs, sometimes as many as two or three thousand 

 in a day. The drones, or males, do absolutely no work. 

 The workers build the combs, gather the honey and 

 pollen, act as nurses for the young, and attendants upon 

 the queen. 



We examine first the queen, then the drone, noting only distin- 

 guishing characteristics of each as compared with the workers, 

 afterward observing the cells of the comb. 



The queen is larger than the worker. Her head is 



