90 
THE HONEY— MAKERS. 
smallest, and the workers, of an intermediate 
size. The females assist in the work of con- 
structing the cells, and, at the first laying, deposit 
eggs of both males and females ; the latter, on 
reaching their full growth, are only one sixth the 
size of their mother, and lay only the eggs of 
males. 
Unlike the hive bee, they appear to have no 
queen who reigns alone. Several females live 
peaceably under the same roof, which we have 
already seen can never be the fact with the hive 
bee. There is also another difference : the males 
in the humble bee’s nest are as industrious as 
any of the other members of the household ; 
there are no idlers there, and all unite in work- 
ing for the common good. 
The humble bee is less irritable in his temper 
than the hive bee, at least he is not so ready 
to use his stings. It has also sometimes been 
thought that he has less intelligence, but this is 
probably a mistake. 
The younger Iluber gives an interesting illus- 
tration of their ingenuity. He once put several 
humble bees in a glass case with a piece of comb 
