126 LETTERS ON ENTOBIOLOGY. 
cipally destined to hold the young ones; there 
is nothing remarkable in its appearance, being 
like a mound of earth covered with moss ; but 
on examination this moss is found to be com- 
posed of a great quantity of filaments and fibres, 
brought and curiously interwoven by the bees, 
in such a manner that the rain cannot penetrate. 
Sometimes they add a thin coating inside, of the 
same substance of which honey-combs are made, 
and under this vault are piled two or three combs. 
They feed the young ones with a paste made of 
pollen and honey, but the males and females are 
fed with pure honey, like the hive bees. The 
mother puts her egg into a certain portion of 
this paste ; so that when the grub comes out it 
has nothing to do but to eat. It is probably to 
moisten this paste that they keep a provision of 
honey, which they put into the empty cocoons 
of the grubs, though sometimes they form little 
honey-pots like goblets. 
I cannot refrain from relating an anecdote 
which particularly struck me. In the course of 
his ingenious experiments, M. Huber put under 
a bell-glass about a dozen humble bees, without 
any store of wax, along with a comb of about 
ten silken cocoons, so unequal in height, that 
it was impossible the mass should stand firmly. 
