INSECTS. PHYLUM ARTHROPODA 



stines are powerful and poisonous. The workers spend the day, 

 or at least the shining hours, gathering pollen as well as honey 

 or more strictly, nectar, from every suitable flower. When they 

 reiurn to the hive they regurgitate the nectar as honey, and 

 store both this and pollen in special compartments or cells. 

 Thev also build the combs and carry out various chores. The 

 hexagonal cells are made of wax which comes from between 

 the abdominal segments, and is chewed and placed in position 

 bv the iaws. The cells are of regular shape, hexagonal m cross- 

 section, but not all of the same size. The larv^ and queen are 

 fed, dead bodies removed, and the younger workers fan with 

 their wings to ventilate and cool the hive. 



The fecundated queen lays eggs, placing each carefully ma 

 cell Not all the eggs are fertilised ; if a sperm is released m the 



A B C 



Fig. 194. — The Honey Bee. — From Shipley and MacBride. 

 A, Drone ; B, queen ; C, worker. 



act of laying, syngamy follows and the larva produced is female ; 



if no sperm is released, the resulting parthenogenetic larva will 



become a drone. The drone eggs are also placed in larger cells 



than those of the workers. All larvae are fed by the workers, 



at first on ' royal jelly ', which is secreted by their pharyngeal 



glands. Drone and worker larvse are changed to a diet of honey 



and predigested pollen on the fourth day. A few female larvae, 



which come from eggs which have been laid in larger cells, are 



kept on royal jelly throughout ; they develop into queens. 



Such big cells are made only after the colony has been growing 



for some time, and there are normally only a few of them. Before 



any of the new queens emerge the old queen will have left the 



hive, attended by about half the workers, the whole mass forming 



a swarm which will settle and start a new colony. The first of 



the new queens to emerge stings the other pupal queens to death, 



and then, after short flights to learn the neighbourhood of the 



hive, she soars towards the sun in a nuptial flight, followed by 



