m alternately curved and stretched itself, with very
lively action. Twenty minutes were occupied in casting off the spoil;
when this exertion ceased: the worm lay down, curved, and seemed to take
that rest which it required. An egg laid in a worker's cell produced
this animal, which would have become a worker itself.

We next directed our attention to the moment when a male worm would be
hatched. An egg was exposed to the sun on a glass slider; and, with a
good magnifier, nine rings of the worm were perceptible within the
transparent pellicle. This membrane was still entire, and the worm
perfectly motionless. The two longitudinal lines of tracheae were visible
on the surface, and many ramifications. We never lost sight of the egg a
single instant, and now succeeded in observing the first motions of the
worm. The thick end alternately straightened and curved, and almost
reached the part where the sharp extremity was fixed. These exertions
burst the membrane, first on the upper part, towards the head, then on
the back, and afterwards on all the rest successively. The ragged
pellicle remained in folds on different parts of the body, and then fell
off. Thus it is beyond dispute, that the queen is oviparous.

Some observers affirm, that the workers attend to the eggs before the
worms are hatched; and it is certain that, at whatever time a hive is
examined, we always see some workers with the head and thorax inserted
into cells containing eggs, and remaining motionless several minutes in
this position. It is impossible to discover what they do, for the
interior of the cell is concealed by their bodies; but it is very easily
ascertained that, in this attitude, they are doing nothing to the eggs.

If, at the moment the queen lays, her eggs are put into a grated box,
and deposited in a strange hive, where there is the necessary degree of
heat, the worms come out at the usual time, just as if they had been
left in the cells. Thus no extraordinary aid or attention is required
for their exclusion.

When the workers penetrate the cells, and remain fifteen or twenty
minutes motionless, I have reason to believe, it is only to repose from
their labours. My observations on the subject seem correct. You know,
Sir, that a kind of irregular shaped cells, are frequently constructed
on the panes of the hive. These, being glass on one side, are
exceedingly convenient to the observer, since all that passes within is
exposed. I have often se