96 BEES AND WASPS [CH. 



produced by glands on the ventral side of the abdo- 

 minal segments of the workers. This wax passes 

 through some peculiar membranes on the under side, 

 and makes its appearance in the form of thin plates 

 projecting between the segments. From this situa- 

 tion the plates are removed by means of a nipping 

 apparatus with which the hind legs of the workers 

 are provided ; they are then conveyed to the mandibles, 

 and by these moulded and worked up to form the 

 hexagonal cells in which food, honey or pollen, is 

 stored and the larvae reared. To produce wax a 

 worker must first consume large quantities of honey. 

 It is stated that every pound of wax produced repre- 

 sents a consumption of about 15 Ibs. of honey. The 

 combs are all placed vertically, and the cells compos- 

 ing them are in horizontal rows one above the other 

 and in double series, back to back : the outer ends 

 of the cells are at a slightly higher level than the 

 contiguous bases, and thus the honey has no tendency 

 to flow out. When a cell is completely filled, its 

 opening is sealed over with wax. 



The life-history of any one "stock" of bees is a 

 very different matter from that of any of the other 

 social Hymenoptera, for the colony is not started by 

 the unaided efforts of a "queen/' but by a very large 

 number of workers who have, accompanied by the 

 "queen," left some already existing and probably 

 overcrowded hive as a "swarm. 3 Under normal 



