A single community of bees may consist of two hundred thousand individuals. In the hive there is a single queen, which often lays from fifteen hundred to two thousand eggs a day, and if we could follow her, we should find that she lays the eggs in different cells, and in cells of different sizes. In the first are eggs which develop into workers, and in the second are larger eggs which will produce males, called drones. The little eggs soon hatch into white grubs which are carefully fed by the workers with digested honey and pollen. Finally the young larvæ almost fill the cells and then stop eating. The workers cover them in, and each spins for itself a silken cocoon, in which it remains until it breaks out in the form of a perfect bee. The workers build certain large cells on the side of the comb, which are called queen cells, and the larvæ which appear in them are fed with some peculiar food which produces queens. The workers watch each of these cells with great care, gnawing the wax away on top so that they can observe the progress of development. Finally a small hole is made, through which the proboscis of the young queen protrudes, and in this way it is fed for several days, during which it utters a low, piping noise. The queens attack each other on sight, and previous to the appearance of a young queen the old one, with thousands of followers, makes her escape, or swarms. Then the workers liberate a young queen, and if there are others, there are repeated swarms, each queen leaving with a multitude of followers, till the hive has but one queen. There are in the community now a number of drones, and as they appear to be an expensive and worthless burden to carry during the winter, the workers attack and kill them, throwing them out of the hive. [Illustration: FIG. 251.--Carpenter bee.] Among the many kinds of bees the carpenters (Fig. 251) are famous, boring tunnels into solid wood for the reception of their young; half an inch a day being accomplished by these little carpenters. The bumblebee, one of the largest, forms its nest in the ground (Fig. 252). [Illustration: FIG. 252.--Bumblebee and nest.] [Illustration: FIG. 253.--Wasp and young.] The wasps (Fig. 253) live in societies of males, females, and workers. The paperlike nests are familiar objects in the woods, resembling great bags of paper which when opened are seen to be filled with cells. Many nests are of beautiful shapes, resembling candelabra, while the cells of the common mud dauber (Fig. 254) call to mind the adobe houses of the Mexicans and Indians of the Southwest. The mud cells of a South American wasp resemble bottles (Fig. 255). Many of the large wasps are fierce and vindictive, and nearly all resent an attack upon their homes. INDEX A Abalone, 109. Æolis, 114. Aeronaut, 179. Agassiz, Louis, 27. Amœba, 8, 10. Anemone, 38, 43. Angle worm, 82. Animalcules, 76. Ant, 223. Antennæ, 96. Ant lion, 181. Aphis, 202.