INSTINCT OF THE BEE. 
65 
holes. The mouth remains open until the grub 
is ready for its change. At this time the bees 
close each of the cells with a waxen lid, leaving 
within sufficient room for the movements of the 
imprisoned insect. 
In this connection a striking instance may be 
related showing the marvelous instinct of the bee. 
A swarm was placed, on one occasion, in a 
very flat glass hive, and the bees formed one of 
the combs parallel to one of the sides, where it 
was so straight that the cells could not have their 
usual depth. The queen, however, laid eggs in 
them, the workers daily fed their inmates, and 
the cells were closed at the usual time. A few 
days afterward, holes were observed in the lids, 
out of which the bodies of the little dwellers pro- 
truded, the cells being too short for their mo- 
tions. 
The question then arose as to what would be 
done ? Would the grubs be destroyed or aban- 
doned ? No. Instinct proved a sufficient guide 
for the emergency. The bees saw the difficulty, 
but allowed the grubs to remain, and gave to 
the cells new roofs much more convex than 
