THAT 



'S IT ; 



labour. At the back, and on each side of this 

 first cell, two others are sketched out and exca- 

 vated : by this proceeding the foundations of 

 two cells are laid, the line betwixt them corre- 

 sponding with the centre of the opposite cells*, 

 as the comb extends, the first excavations are 

 rendered deeper and broader ; and when a 

 pyramidal base is finished, the bees build up 

 wails from its edges, so as to complete what 

 may be called the prismatic part ot the cell. 

 The cells intended for the drones are con- 

 siderably larger and more substantial than 

 those for the workers , and being formed sub- 

 sequently, they usually appear nearer the 

 bottom of the combs : last of all are built the 

 royal cells for the queens : of these there are 

 usually three or four, sometimes ten or twelve, 

 in a hive, attached completely to the central 

 part, but not unfrequently to the edge of the 

 comb. The form of the royal cells is an oblony 

 spheroid, tapering gradually downwards, and 

 having the exterior full of holes : the mouth of 

 the cell, which is always at the bottom, remains 

 open until the maggot is ready for transforma- 

 tion, and it is then closed like the rest 



" When a queen has emerged, the cell in 

 S destroyed, and its 

 ige of common cells . 

 y always be traced by 

 sing thicker than the 

 >f knot. The common 

 id workers are occa- 

 itories of honey ; but 

 iently cleansed to pre- 

 serve the honey unaeteriorated. The finest 

 honey is stored in new cells constructed for the 

 purpose of receiving it, their form precisely 

 resembling that of the common breeding cells, 

 these honey-cells vary in size, being larger or 

 smaller according to the productiveness of the 

 sources from which the bees are collecting, and 

 according to the season." 



There are several kinds of 

 humble bees, which are a distinct 

 species from the hive bees, al- 

 though, like the latter, they work 

 in society, and form nests and 

 stores. Their habitations are 

 sometimes excavated at a con- 

 siderable depth in the ground, 

 and sometimes built upon its 

 surface, beneath stones, &c. The 

 societies consist, in some species, 

 of about fifty or sixty indivi- 

 duals ; in others of as many as 

 two or three hundred. They 

 contain males, females, and 

 workers or neuters. The fe- 

 males alone survive the winter ; 

 and they employ the first line 

 days in spring to commence their 



nests, which they very quickly 

 excavate, and supply with a mix- 

 ture of honey and pollen for the 

 nourishment of the first brood, 

 which consists exclusively of 

 workers. These, after having 

 undergone their transformations, 

 assist in the construction of new 

 cells, the collection of the food, 

 and the rearing of the larva? . 

 In autumn the males and fe- 

 males are produced ; and at tho 

 commencement of winter all but 

 the larger females die ; these re- 

 main in a sort of chamber dis- 

 tinct from the rest, but, as it 

 would appear, without any sup- 

 ply of food. It should be ob- 

 served, that though the humble 

 bees collect honey as well as the 

 common ones, it is neither so 

 fine nor so good : nor is their wax 

 so clean, or so capable of fusion. 



713. 



Carder bees are smaller than 

 the common humble bee ; the 

 fore part of the back is of a dull 

 orange, and the hinder part 

 ringed with different shades of 

 grayish yellow. They construct 

 their nests, 11, of moss and 

 withered grass in the form of a 



