NATURAL HISTORY. 15 



containing food-stores. Moreover, the former are 

 situated usually in or near the centre of each comb, 

 \vhile the latter, where the two co-exist, are found 



Fig. 4. — A. I-arva full grown, viewed sideways. 

 B. Larva preparing for Pupa state. 



near the top. It is very important to learn the 

 difference in appearance between the two, as several 

 points of successful manipulation depend upon the 

 knowledge. 



Tfie nymph or pupa. — In this condition the insect 

 is at first semi-transparent, and white, with a yellowish 

 tinge. Hour by hour the various organs of the per- 

 fect bee proceed in their development, and become 

 more and more discernible through the thin pellicle 

 enshrouding them. On the head, the eyes and an- 

 tennae assume their ultimate size and marvellous 

 structure. The legs and wings are clearly seen 

 folded lengthwise along the thorax and abdomen. 

 The chitinous covering of the body attains increasing 

 firmness, and the colour of the exterior deepens to a 

 greyish brown. 



At length, in periods varying in the three classes of 

 inmates of the hive, maturity is reached. In the case 

 of queens, sixteen days suffice for complete metamor- 

 phosis from the egg to the full-grown insect. Drones 

 require twenty-four days, and workers from nineteen 

 to twenty-two days, according to the warmth of the 

 weather, to go through all their changes. 



