THE HOME OF THE BEES. 365 
of the tropics (Melipona), until in the Humble-bee the 
cells are isolated and cylindrical in form. 
Before speaking of the wild bees, let us briefly review 
the life of the Honey-bee. The queen bee having win- 
tered over with many workers, lays her eggs in the 
spring, first in the worker, and, at a later period, in the 
drone-cells. Early in the summer the workers construct 
the large, flask-shaped queen-cells, which are placed on 
the edge of the comb, and in these the queen larvæ are 
fed with rich and choice food. The new queens form 
new swarms. The new-born queen takes her marriage 
flight high in the air with a drone, and on her return 
undertakes the management of the hive, and the duty of 
laying eges. When the supply of queens is exhausted, 
the workers destroy the drones. The first brood of 
workers live about six weeks in summer, and then give 
way to a new brood. The queens, according to Von 
Berlepsch, are known to live five years, and, during their 
` Whole life, lay more than a million eggs. 
In the tropics, the Honey-bee is replaced by the Meli- 
ponas and Trigonas. They are minute stingless bees, 
_ Which store up honey and live in colonies often of im- 
mense extent. The cells of Melipona are hexagonal, 
nearly approaching in regularity those of the Hive-bee, 
while the honey cells are irregular, being much larger cav- 
ities which hold about one-half as much honey as a cell 
of the Humble-bee. “Gardner, in his travels, states that 
many species of Melipona build in the hollow trunks of 
trees, others in banks ; some suspend their nests from the 
branches of trees, whilst one species constructs its nest 
of clay, it being of large size.” (F. Smith.) ; 
In a nest of Trigona carbonaria, from eastern Australia, 
Mr. F. Smith, of the British Museum, found from four 
