WASPS, ANTS AND BEES 193 



permits of the regurgitation of the bee-jelly or bee-milk (fed 

 the larvae by the nurse workers), which is believed to be pre- 

 pared in the true stomach, pressed past the lips forward into 

 the honey-stomach and on through the esophagus into the 

 mouth. 



When the nectar is put into the honey-cells it has still to 

 have much water evaporated from it. To accomplish this an 

 effective system of ventilation is set up in the hive, so that 

 air-currents pass constantly over the open nectar-containing 

 cells; moreover, by the very vigor of this activity on the 

 part of the bees the temperature of their bodies is raised; 

 by radiation of heat from the bodies the temperature in the 

 hive is sensibly increased, and the currents of warm air soon 

 carry off the excess water. To make the honey "keep," that 

 is, to make it antiseptic, formic acid is added to it, probably 

 from glands in the head whose secretions distinctly show its 

 presence. It is just possible that the formic acid is supplied 

 by the poison-sacs, the poison introduced by the bee's sting 

 being largely composed of formic acid. But it is much more 

 probable that at the time of the regurgitation of the nectar 

 from the honey-stomach through the mouth the formic-acid 

 secretions from the head-glands are mixed with it. 



Nectar for honey-making is obtained by bees from a great 

 many different plants, but that from some makes honey better, 

 to our taste, than that from others. Among the most impor- 

 tant producers of the best honey in the east and north are white 

 clover, basswood, buckwheat, and the fruit trees and small 

 fruits; in the middle states are the tulip tree, sorrel- tree, sweet 

 clover, and alfalfa; in the south are the mangrove, cabbage- 

 and saw-palmettos, orange trees and sorrel-tree ; while in 

 the west are alfalfa and white sage. 



Besides pollen and nectar, two other substances are collected 

 and brought to the hive by the foraging workers. At some 

 seasons of the year when many larvae are being reared, and the 

 supply of water derived by condensation of the moisture in 

 the warm hive atmosphere as this air strikes the cooler hive- 

 walls is insufficient, the workers drink up dew from leaves, or 

 water from puddles, which they hold in the honey-sac and bring 

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