he swarm, commences the
building of cells, which is then taken up by the other wax-makers, and,
subsequently, by the nurse bees, which give the finishing stroke to the
cells; and so quick are the bees at their work, that a comb,
twenty-seven inches long, by seven or eight inches wide, is built in
four and twenty hours, and in five or six days they will fill the hive.
The combs are attached to the roof and sides of the dwelling,--the
hives or boxes to the floors and roofs.

There are three sorts of cells: the first one for the larvae of workers,
and for containing the honey,--these are of the ordinary form; the
second are for the grubs of the males or drones, being considerably
larger and more substantial,--they usually appear near the bottom of the
combs; the third are the cells for the females, of which there are
usually three or four, and these are generally attached to the ceiling
part of the comb, having very little wax in their composition. One of
these cells considerably exceeds in height the ordinary ones, and they
are not interwoven with them, but suspended perpendicularly, their sizes
being nearly parallel to the mouths of the common cells, several of
which are sacrificed to support them. After the queen bee has quitted
her cell, it is destroyed by the workers, and its place occupied by a
range of common cells. The queen bee deposits her eggs separately at the
bottom of each cell: the egg is of a lengthened oval shape, with a
slight curve, and of a bluish colour. The worker's eggs, which are the
only ones laid by the queen during the first eleven months, hatch in a
few days, and become little white maggots. Each is now fed with bee
bread by the workers, very assiduously, and, at the expiration of six
days, having attained its full size, it is roofed in by the workers,
spins a silken cocoon, which occupies it for thirty-six hours, and then
becomes a nymph or pupa, and, eleven days after this, quits its case,
eats through the roof of the cell, and comes forth a perfect working
bee.

For nearly twelve months, the queen bee deposits only workers' eggs;
after which period, however, she commences laying those of drones. As
soon as this change takes place, the workers begin to construct the
royal cells, in which, without discontinuing to lay male eggs, she
deposits now and then, about once in three days, an egg destined to
produce a future queen. The food of the royal grubs has been termed
"royal jelly." It is a pun