From Frederick Smith   3 April 1860

My dear Sir

I have carefully examined your Hive-bees from Jamaica¹ and can detect not the slighest difference between them & A mollifica    dont accept this as my final determination because I intend to have another investigation—   You mentioned when here last that y⁠⟨⁠ou⁠⟩⁠ had a piece of honey-comb—⁠⟨⁠or⁠⟩⁠ had seen one—in which a beautiful gradation of enlargement in the hexagonal cells was shown—i.e. between worker cells & drone cells—   I said that I had seen the same in wasp combs—   at that time I was not aware that I had preserved a piece— which I will show you in which by a repeated widening of the cells laterally in about four rows they became large enough for the Queens or females Qy—are the small Queens—alias large workers—reared in these transition cells?—

I am bothering you with my queries &c— —but exc⁠⟨⁠use⁠⟩⁠ me I pray.— There was a very animated discussion here ⁠⟨⁠yes⁠⟩⁠terday    speakers— D^r. Gray. M^r W⁠⟨⁠ollaston⁠⟩⁠ & M^r. P⁠⟨⁠as⁠⟩⁠coe²—or rather outpouring of opinion respecting the apterous or subapterous ⁠⟨⁠Bruchoi⁠⟩⁠ds— this brought to my mind that the same thing occurs in different genera of Insects—I dont think I have pointed it out & dont know whether you have noted it in any way—  I will only mention one genus in which it occurs—Pompilus    I believe every gradation of abbrevation may be found between the ample winged genus Macroceris & Brachypterus brevissimis—instances also occur in Coleoptera in which the same species is sometimes winged sometimes apterous or subapterous—Example—Calathus melanocephalus—

excuse my troubling you if all this is a twice told tale | and believe me | Yours very truly | Fred^k Smith

Cha^s. Darwin Esq^re