HYMENOPTERA. 



323 



vax,'then, is produced by the insect by exudation, and is not simply 

 he pollen gathered from flowers. Huber himself states that bees 

 exclusively nourished on pollen do not secrete wax, and that, on the 

 :ontrary, they do furnish it when they eat saccharine matter. It is 



Fig. 316.— Clusters of Bees. 



asy to perceive the little plates of wax by slightly raising the last 

 ings of the bee's abdomen. Fig. 315 represents a bee very heavily 

 iden with this matter. . . 



The working bees suspend themselves from the roof of the hivem 

 uch a manner as to form festoons. The first clings to the roof with 

 is front legs, the second hooks himself on to the hind legs of the 

 rst, and so on, as is shown in Fig. 316. They in this manner form 



