234 



Marvels of Insect Life. 



Wax- workers. 



The workers in wax arc not a numerous company, so far as species are concerned ; 



but being social Insects they form communities that more than make up for paucity 



of species by the abundance of individuals. These communities are also continuous. 



We must somewhat qualify this statement by admitting that it does not apply 



^ to the humble-bees, which like the wasps have to 



begin again each year ; but the humble-bees are 

 not true wax-workers, for thev produce very little 

 of the real material, and that of an inferior quality. 

 They have not learned the art of building combs. 

 The true wax- workers are the honey-storing bees,^ 

 and they may be said to be perennials, whilst 

 other bees are annuals — that is to say, the honey- 

 storing community is perennial, the bees them- 

 selves, other than the egg-laying female or queen, 

 being no longer lived than their solitary relations. 

 A wild community of honev-bees in a cave or 

 hollow tree might go on for ever. The huge 

 difference in the two groups — social and solitary — 

 that this implies, has been brought about solely 

 by the discovery of the socials that if thev retained 

 honey in their stomachs their vital chemistry 

 would convert it into wax. But for this discovery 

 the honey-bee probably would never have figured 

 largely in literature as she has done, whilst her 

 solitary relatives, equally industrious, no less 

 solicitous for the interests of an unseen progeny 

 and the continuance of the race, have been utterly 

 ignored save by a handful of naturalists. But 

 for this discovery man would never have found 

 the bee worth eulogizing or robbing — and the 

 eulogies have been directed mainly to her habit 

 of storing up honey which man could appropriate 

 to his own use. The discovery of the secret of 

 wax-production and the acquisition of the know- 

 ledge of its ductibility and application to the use 

 of the community have made all the difference to 

 the honey-bee, and — inter alia — have brought one 

 species- completely under the subjection of man. 

 Wax is a costly substance to produce. It is estimated that the bees need to 

 consume from sixteen to twenty pounds of honey in order to produce a single 

 pound of wax. It is made available for use by its secretion from glands on the 

 surface of the rings of the under side of the hind-body. Here it appears as thin 

 scales, which are removed by the bee's hind-legs and passed to tlu^ mouth, where 



PlmUi by'] 



[/•;. Step. F.I.. 



Six-spot Burnet-Moth. 



Just before the moth is ready to escape the chrysalis 

 pushes its head out of the upper end of the cocoon, 

 and the moth walks up the stem and rests until the 

 wings are fully developed. 



' Ai)is. 



A. mellifica. 



