68 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



off the covering, as is done also by ants in the same 

 circumstances. The instinct with which they know 

 the precise time when it is proper to do this is truly 

 wonderful. It is no less so, that these cocoons are 

 by no means useless when thus untenanted, for they 

 subsequently serve for honey-pots, and are indeed 

 the only store-cells in the nest. For this purpose the 

 edge of the cell is repaired and strengthened with a 

 ring of wax. 



The true breeding-cells are contained in several 

 amorphous masses of brown-coloured wax, varying 

 in dimensions, but of a somewhat flat and globular 

 shape. On opening any of these, a number of eggs 

 or grubs are found, on whose account the mother 

 bee has collected the masses of wax, which also con- 

 tain a supply of pollen moistened with honey, for 

 their subsistence. 



The number of eggs or grubs found in one sphe- 

 roid of wax varies from three to thirty, and the bees 

 in a whole nest seldom exceed sixty. There are 

 three sizes of bees, of which the females are the 

 largest ; but neither these nor the males are, as in 

 the case of the hive-bee, exempt from labour. The 

 females, indeed, always found the nests, since they 

 alone survive the winter, all the rest perishing with 

 cold. In each nest, also, are several females, that 

 live in harmony together. 



