68 PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HONEY-BEE. 
the first two weeks of the worker-bee’s life, the impulse for gath- 
ering honey and pollen does not exist, or at least is not devel- 
oped; and that the development of this impulse proceeds slowly 
and gradually. At first the young bee will not even touch the 
honey presented to her; some days later she will simply taste it, 
and only after a further lapse of time will she consume it 
eagerly. Two weeks elapse before she readily eats honey, and 
nearly three weeks pass, before the gathering impulse is suffi- 
ciently developed to impel her to fly abroad, and seek for honey 
and pollen among the flowers. 
163. ‘I made, further, the following observations respecting 
the domestic employments of the young Italian bees: 
“7, On the 20th of May, I took out of the hive all the combs it 
contained, and replaced them after examination. On inspecting 
them half an hour later, I was surprised to see that the edges of 
the combs, which had been cut on removal,* were covered by 
Italian bees exclusively. On closer examination, I found that 
they were busily engaged in re-attaching the combs to the sides 
of the hive. WhenI brushed them away, they instantly returned, 
in eager haste, to resume their labors. 
“g, After making the foregoing observations, I inserted in the 
hive a bar from which a comb had been cut, to ascertain whether 
the rebuilding of comb would be undertaken by the Italian bees. 
I took it out a few hours subsequently, and found it covered al- 
most exclusively by Italian workers, though the colony, at that 
time, still contained a large majority of common bees. I saw 
that they were sedulously engaged in building comb; and they 
prosecuted the work unremittingly, whilst I held the bar in my 
hand. I repeated this experiment several days in succession, 
and satisfied myself that the bees engaged in this work were al- 
ways almost exclusively of the Italian race. Many of them had 
scales of wax visibly protruding between their abdominal rings 
(201). These observations show that, in the early stage of their 
existence, the impulse for comb-building is stronger than later 
in life. 
164. ‘8. Whenever I examined the colony during the first 
three weeks after the Italian bees emerged, I found the brood- 
combs covered principally by bees of that race: and it is, hence, 
probable that the brood is chiefly attended to and nursed by the 
* Mr. Donhoff ,the writer of this quotation, used the Dzierzon hive, the combs 
of which are suspended in the hive by an upper bar only, and cannot be taken 
out unless their edges, that are built against the sides of the hive, are cut. 
