THE WORKER-BEE. SS 



younger bees. The evidence, however, Is not so conclusive as 

 in the case of oomb-buikVmg, inasmuch as they may, have con- 

 gregated on the brood-couibs because these are warmer than the 

 others. 



" I may add another interesting observation. The faeces in the 

 intestines of the young Italian bees was viscid and yellow; that 

 of the comiuon or old bees was thin and limpid, like that of the 

 queeii-bee. This is confirmatory of the opinion, that, for the 

 production of wax and jelly, the bees require pollen ; but do 

 not need any for their own sustenance." — {B Z., 1855, p. 103. 

 Dr. Bonhoff, translated by the late S. Wagner.) 



166. There are none but gentlemen of leisure in the com- 

 monwealth of bees, but assuredly there are no such ladies, 

 whether of high or low degree. The queen 

 herself has her full share of duties, the 

 royal office being no sinecure, when the 

 mother who fills it must daily superintend 

 the proper deposition of thousands of 



rig. 24. " The eggs of bees are of a lengthened, oval 



THE KGG IN THE shape wHh a slight curvature, and of a bluish 

 CEI.I.. white color : being besmeared, at the time of 



agDi e .) laying, with a glutinous substance, they ad- 

 here to the bases of the cells, and remain unchanged in figure or 

 situation for three or four days ; they are then hatched, the bot- 

 tom of each cell presenting to view a small white worm."— 

 (Sevan.) 



166. For the first three daya after their hatching, these 

 worms are fed with a jelly, thought to be prepared or secre- 

 ted by the upper pair of glands of the worker-bees (39), 

 which are very large in the nurses. This milky food is a 

 whitish, transparent fluid, and is distributed to the larvae, 

 as it is needed. After four or perhaps five days, the larva 

 is too large for the bottom of the cell, where it was coiled 

 up, to use the language of Swammerdam, like a dog when 

 going to sleep ; and stretqbes itself til! it occupies the whole 



