The Bee. 125 



In taking possession of a new hive they cling to one 

 another in living festoons from the roof, while the wax 

 forms in little plates under the edge of each ring of the 

 abdomen. (Fig. 2.) These plates they take off with 

 their feet, work them with their mandibles, and stick 

 them to the roof of the hive till a shapeless mass of wax 

 is formed. Then other bees hollow out the cells in the 

 wax. 



Fig. 1 represents the magnified head of each ol the three differ- 

 ent forms of the honey-hee; a, the queen, 6, the worker, c, the 

 drone, showing tlie great development of the mouth-parts in the 

 worker and their very small size in the drone; also the differing 

 shape of the face in queen and worlter, as well as the enormous 

 eyes of the male and the shortness of his antennae ahove the hend. 



Fig. 2 is a magnified view of a hee with the plates of wax show- 

 ing between the rings of the abdomen. 



In this piece of comb there are three kinds of cells : 

 Small cells in rowf, laiger ones in rows, and a loug one 

 at the edge of the others. The cells in the rows are six- 

 sided ; the long one is shaped something like a peanut. 

 The small cells (Fig. 3, c) are for the smallest bees, the 

 workers ; the larger ones (6) are for the drones ; and the 

 long cell (a) is for the queen. So few queens are pro- 

 duced every year that only a very few royal cells are 

 needed. There are also storage cells for honey, which aie 

 sealed up with wax so as to be air-tight and keep the honey 

 in its natural condition. 



The larva (Fig. 4) is a tiny white worm, without feet, 

 perfectly helpless, and entirely dependent upon its faithful 

 nurses. In five or six days it reaches its full size, and 

 covers itself with a thin cocoon. After ten days of pupa 

 life (Fig. 5) it emerges from its cell, a perfect insect. 



