THE ANTS, BEES, AND WASPS 83 



The Honeybee. The life history of the honeybee (A'pis 

 mellifica, Fig. 57) has been quite well understood for a long 

 time. This insect offers a most interesting illustration of a 

 society all the members of which act together for the good of 

 the community. In their community, specialization of work 

 has been developed to a remarkable extent. The honeybee, 

 originally a native of the Eastern Hemisphere, possibly from 

 the region along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, 

 has been domesticated from very early times for the sake of 

 its two important products, honey and wax. Escaped swarms 

 in this country have become the wild honeybees, which nest 

 in hollow trees. In early summer a bee community in good 

 condition may contain from twenty-five to thirty-five thou- 

 sand workers, several hundred males, called drones, but only 

 one female, called the queen bee. The queen bee may be 

 distinguished from the workers and drones by her larger 

 size. The drones are stouter than the workers and have no 

 sting. 



Upon the workers devolves most of the labor in connec- 

 tion with the life of the community. They secrete the wax 

 and fashion it into the cells of which the home is composed. 

 They bring water to the hive. They collect nectar from 

 flowers and later regurgitate it and ripen it into honey ; they 

 bring pollen to mix with nectar to make "beebread ; " they 

 gather propolis, a gummy substance from bud scales of 

 certain trees, especially the poplar, for filling crevices and 

 covering foreign objects which are too big to be removed 

 from the nest. When the young are hatched the workers act 

 as nurses and housekeepers for the community, feeding the 

 young and keeping the hive free from all substances which 

 might decay. In warm weather some of them may be seen 

 at the entrance and along the passageway, keeping the air in 

 motion with their wings, thus setting up a current which pro- 

 vides air and helps ripen the honey by evaporating the water 



