The Ilahils of the Iloncyhce 7 



its mouth, and then passes to an enlargement of the 

 alimentary canal known as the honey-stomach, where 

 it is acted upon by certain juices secreted by the bee. 

 The true stomach lies just behind the honey-stomach; 

 and if the bee needs food for its own immediate use it 

 passes on through the opening between the two stom- 

 achs. On its arrival in the hive the bee places its head 

 in one of the cells of the comb and deposits there the 

 nectar which it has carried in. By this time the nectar 

 has been partly transformed into honey, and the proc- 

 ess is completed by the bees by fanning the cells to 

 evaporate the excess of moisture which still remains 

 When a cell has been filled with the thick honey the 

 workers cover it with a thin sheet of wax unless it is 

 to be eaten at once. The pollen is also deposited in 

 cells, but is rarely mixed with honey. The little pellets 

 which the bees carry in are packed tightly into cells 

 until the cell is nearly full. If a cell of pollen be dug 

 out of the comb, one can often see the layers made by 

 the different pellets. This collecting of nectar and 

 pollen continues throughout the summer whenever 

 there are flowers in bloom, and ceases only with the 

 death of the last flowers in the autumn. 



Almost as soon as the honey and pollen begin to 

 come in, the queen of the colony begins to lay eggs in 

 the cells of the center combs. The title of queen has 

 been given to the female bee which normally lays all 

 the eggs of the colony, under the supposition that she 

 governs the colony and directs its activities. This we 

 now know to be an error, but the name still remains. 

 Her one duty in life is that of egg-laying. She is most 

 carefully watched over by the workers, and is con- 

 stantly surrounded by a circle of attendants who feed 

 her and touch her with their antennae; but she in no 



