o HYMENOPTKRA. 



foundress, or queen, performs all the labor ; she col- 

 lects a mass of pollen, and lays a few eggs upon it'; 

 then covers these with more pollen ; when a sufficient 

 quantity has been collected, she lays more eggs, cov- 

 ering them as she did those first laid. The larvae, as 

 soon as hatched, begin to eat the food with which 

 they are surrounded ; each forming for itself a large 

 cavity within it. In case the body of a larva appears 

 through the mass, the breach is quickly filled with 

 more pollen. When full grown, the larva spins about 

 Itself a silken cocoon; this is strengthened by the old 

 bees with a thin layer of wax.' In this manner is pro- 

 duced a very irregular comb differing much in appear- 

 ance from that of the Honey-bee. When fully devel- 

 oped, the young bees eat their way out from their 

 cells, and begin their duties as members of the society. 

 Those produced in early summer are all workers, and 

 as soon as they appear take upon themselves the pro- 

 visioning of the nest, and the care of the young. The 

 queen remains at home, doing but little more than to 

 Jay eggs- The cells from which the young bees es- 

 cape are used for the storing of honey and bee-bread. 

 " About the middle of summer eggs are deposited which 

 produce both small females and males. All eggs laid 

 after the last of July produce the large females, or 

 queens ; and, the males being still in the nest, it is pre- 

 sumed that the queens are impregnated at this time, 

 as, on the approach of cold weather, all except the 

 queens, of which there are several in each nest, die." 

 (Putnam), (i, 130; 7, 213, 280, 348; 8, VI., i; I'. 

 Huber in Linn, Trans., VI). 



Gufsfs.— In a nest of Boml>i/s pcnnsylvanicus, which 

 I kept in my study for several months, I observed the 



