BEES. 315 



Thus we see that the workers are always busy, 

 only stopping for a little refreshment, and then fly- 

 ing off again to continue their work. 



The workers that stay at home, besides tending 

 the bee-babies, also keep the hive clean. They also 

 watch and tend the queen-mother, for she is never 

 left a moment, but is attended by a retinue of 

 workers, who feed her and stroke her and look after 

 her generally. 



The hive is well-ventilated. A kind of "natural 

 electric fan" is made by certain bees being "told 

 off" to move their wings, which are kept in con- 

 stant motion for some time. 



Now we will consider the "nurseries" or brood" 

 cells. These are situated in the warmest part of the 

 hive. The nurse-bees feed and look after the little 

 bee-grubs, going from cell to cell, feeding them 

 with "bee-bread'* (this is a mixture of pollen and 

 honey.) The little grubs have a certain number of 

 moults and gradually increase in size. As they 

 grow older, the food is varied. More honey and 

 less pollen is given till at last they are fed on honey 

 alone. The food given to the bee-laTvse has a 

 great deal of influence on the nature of the adult. 

 A queen can be produced from an ordinary worker- 

 larva by feeding it on richer food; in this case the 

 cell of the chosen worker-larva has also to be en- 

 larged because queen bees are larger than workers. 



When the adults are hatched and leave the cells, 

 the latter are cleaned out to be ready for the queen 

 to deposit an egg in each. 



