THE WORKER. 
37 
Upon emerging from the egg, the infant worker 
finds herself living in a snug little room with six 
sides, and so constructed as in some measure to 
limit her growth. Her food is the simple fare of 
“ bee-bread,” amply sufficient in quantity and 
quality to bring to maturity every useful form of 
activity, but destitute of any element tending to 
the development of sensual or vindictive passions. 
These being consequently smothered in the cra- 
dle, the worker at last comes forth, “ modest in 
habits, a nun among insects, and a very ‘ sister of 
charity ’ among her fellows.” 
The body of the worker is about half an inch 
in length, one sixth of an inch in its greatest 
breadth, and oblong in shape. The noddle por- 
tions of the hind legs are hollowed into trian- 
gular cavities, or baskets. In these are carried 
the pollen, propolis, and other hive materials ; 
and they are surrounded by an elastic fringe of 
hairs, which, rising above the edges of the bas- 
kets, prevent the high-heaped food from being 
lost. The bottom of this basket is composed 
of a smooth, shining, horn-like substance, hol- 
lowed out in the leg. In this curiously formed 
