that period, success attends her exertions, for it is only in its first stage that the egg is sought after by the workers.
In four or five days the eggs are hatched. The larvæ, which differ from those of the hive-bee in having their sides marked by irregular transverse black spots, feed primarily on the magazines previously deposited beside them, and are afterwards supplied by the workers, till they begin to spin their cocoons. In this operation, each larva separates itself from the group to which it has hitherto been attached, forming a lodgement for itself under the roof of the same roomy apartment where it had lived in society. Males and females are bred in the same cell and fed in the same manner, and the cocoons of both are seen mingled together. It may seem difficult to comprehend how, in a cell of such small dimensions, the larvæ can find room to grow, and separately to spin their cocoons. The fact is, the cells acquire, in the meantime, a great addition in point of dimensions. As the inmates increase in size, the lateral pressure of their bodies bursts the slender walls of the cell, and the workers instantly set about repairing the rent, which they do, not by bringing the edges together, but by placing a large patch upon it, the full extent of the opening, and, of course, augmenting by so much the capacity of the cell. A succession of rents, caused by the growth of each of the larvæ, is followed by a succession of patches and additions, till, at last, the cell is augmented to four or five times its original size; and, as the operators by no means resemble their
