TIE WORKER-BEE. 71 
beneath it, and the discarded garment, more delicate than 
gossamer, is pushed to the bottom of the cell.’”—(Cheshire.) 
168. “The nursing- 
bees now seal over the 
cell with a light brown 
cover, externally mure 
or less convex (the cap 
of a drone-cell being 
more convex than that 
of a worker), and thus Fig. 27. 
differing from that of a STRETCHED IN THE CELL. 
honey-cell, which is (Magnified.) 
paler and somewhat concave.”—(“ Bevan on the Honey-Bee.”) 
The cap of the brood-cell is made not of pure wax, but 
of a mixture of bee-bread and wax; and appears under the 
microscope to be full of fine holes, to give air to the in- 
closed insect. From its texture and shape it is easily thrust 
off by the bee when mature, whereas if it consisted wholly 
of wax, the insect would either perish for lack of air, or be 
unable to force its way into the world. Both the material 
and shape of the lids which close the honey-cells are differ- 
ent: they are of pure wax, and are slightly concave, the 
better to resist the pres- 
sure of their contents. 
The bees sometimes 
neglect to cap the cells 
of some of the brood, 
and some persons have 
thought that this brood 
was diseased, but it 
Fig. 28. 
THE TRANSFORMATION IN THE SEALED 
CELL. hatches all the same. 
(Magnified.) The larva is no sooner 
perfectly inclosed, than it begins to spin a cocoon after the 
manner of the silk-worm, and Cheshire teaches us that it 
does not encase the insect, but is only at the mouth of the 
cell, ‘‘ and in no case extends far down the sidés.”’ 
