HUMBLE-BEES. 
24 (3 
liive. While the beauty and regularity of the latter 
are such as to excite the admiration of mankind, the 
nest of the former offers to the eye of the observei 
little else than a confused and clumsy mass, consist- 
ing, apparently, of mishapen lumps of dirty-coloured 
rvax. Amidst these apparent irregularities, however, 
we discover a number of egg-shaped bodies of a 
yellowish colour and of different sizes, some of them 
being 6 lines deep and 4 wide, and others 4 lines 
deep and 2 5 wide, placed on end, and closely cement- 
ed together, the central ones projecting above those 
which are situated towards the edge of the mass. 
These ovoidal bodies are cocoons of silk, strong and 
tenacious in their texture, and coated with wax ; 
they contain the young brood. Several clusters 
placed near each other form a kind of cake or comb, 
the upper surface of which, from the projection of 
the central cells, is convex, and the under, of course, 
concave. These combs are placed in tiers, one above 
another, and supported by pillars of wax at the outer 
edges. There are also found in the nest masses of 
wax of a roundish and irregular form, about inch 
in diameter and 5 inch deep ; these also are brood 
cells but of a peculiar kind, for they contain each six 
or seven larvae lying close together, and bedded on a 
quantity of farina moistened with honey, evidently 
deposited there for their nourishment, and to which 
they can have recourse immediately on being hatched. 
When this is consumed, the w'orkers, aware, it would 
seem, of the fact, make an opening in the top of the 
cells, and give from time to time an additional sup- 
