253 HYMSNOPTERA. 
nymph skin and case, and clean out the 
inside of the cell^ in which the queen 
immediately places another e^g. In this 
manner one cell answers for four or five 
successive worms. 
Lucy. What immense quantities of 
bees there must be in a hive ! 
Mother, Sometimes forty thousand : 
but when they become too numerous for 
the hive to contain them comfortably, a 
separation takes place, and a large pro- 
portion flies off to form a new establish- 
ment elsewhere. The new colony, or 
swarm, immediately begins to work, and 
spends the whole summer, and all the 
fine part of the autumn, in building the 
combs, rearing the young, and laying 
up the winter's provision. When the 
weather begins to grow cold, the working 
bees, as if anxious to diminish the num- 
ber to be fed during the winter, destroy all 
the drones, either by stinging and worry- 
ing them to death, or by driving them 
out into tke cold, which speedily puts an 
end to them. 
