BUMBLEBEES 
Except when 
she leaves the 
nest to procure 
food the queen 
incubates the cell 
const a ntly to 
keep the eggs 
warm. They hatch 
in four days. The 
larvae feed on the 
mass of pollen 
and also on a 
milky food of 
partially digested 
pollen and honey 
prepared by the 
queen. This liq¬ 
uid is i njected 
into the wax cell 
thru a minute 
hole in the top. 
At first the larvae 
are provided, with 
a common sup¬ 
ply, but later each is fed separately. 
When the larvae are five days old they 
begin to grow very rapidly, and the cell 
expands into a large globular bunch or 
bag, in which the position of each can 
easily be discerned. On the eleventh day 
they reach their full size, and each larva 
spins about itself a thin papery but very 
Fig. 3.—Nest of Bnmlus agrorum, showing symmetrical arrangement of 
omb; a, pollen-pockets. (After Sladen.) 
tough cocoon. The cocoons stand upright 
and form a compact cluster with a smooth 
concave groove in the center, in which the 
queen sits to furnish the warmth needed to 
mature the first brood of workers (Fig. 2). 
On the 22d or 23d day the perfect workers 
emerge from the cocoons by cutting a hole 
in the top either alone or with the aid of 
the queen. The 
newly hatched 
bees are a dull 
gray and move 
about vary 
feebly, but by 
the third day 
they have ac¬ 
quired hjiei'ir 
natural colors 
a n d strength 
and are ready 
to depart for 
the field. The 
life of a work¬ 
er bumblebee in 
midsummer i s 
about f o u r 
weeks. 
As soon as 
the larvae of 
the first brood 
Fig. 4.—Nest of liombus lapidarius. (After Sladen.) 
