2 MANIPULATION OF WAX SCALES OF THE HONEY BEE. 



ent members of the colony. In some cases no scales can be observed, 

 even upon dissection. In others the scales will be found to be ex- 

 tremely thick and completely filling the wax pockets. Some bees 

 will show scales in two or three pockets and none in others. Many 

 of the workers will possess a complete supply of scales, either all 

 of about the same thickness or varying considerably in thickness. 

 These and other diverse conditions j^resent themselves for explana- 

 tion. 



The present account is particularly concerned with the manipula- 

 tion of the wax scales. By what process or series of processes are 

 the scales of wax removed from their pockets and added to the 

 comb? That the wax which forms the comb is produced by the bees 

 themselves, being elaborated within their bodies and given out in the 

 form of thin plates or scales, is a fact well known to all students 

 of bees; but many differences of opinion have been expressed con- 

 cerning the exact method of wax manipulation. It is also well 

 known that the workers of the hive perform, many duties — build- 

 ing the comb, gathering the stores of pollen and honey, caring for 

 the brood and the queen, repairing, cleaning, ventilating, and guard- 

 ing the hive — and it has been fairly well established that in some 

 cases, at least, these duties vary with the age of the individual 

 worker, although more accurate information on this point is much 

 to be desired. Dreyling's ^ results, in particular, indicate that bees 

 of certain ages are incapable of producing wax, since their glands 

 tsre either undeveloped or atrophied. Do these bees use the wax 

 secreted by others, taking it from them, manipulating it, and form- 

 ing it into comb? By careful observation bees devoid of wax scales 

 or Avith scales too thin for satisfactory removal may be discovered 

 Avorking Avitli the wax. Do these bees procure their wax from other 

 Avorkers, or are they merely reworking the wax of the comb? Upon 

 each hind leg of a Avorker bee is located a peculiar pincers-like 

 structure long known as the wax shears. Do bees really use this 

 instrument in extracting the scales from the pockets, and if so, does 

 the OAvner of the scale perform this operation, or is the scale re- 

 moved by another worker? Or may it not be that the wax scales 

 drop from their pockets when they reach a suitable thickness, and 

 are salvaged by other workers and added to the comb? All of the 

 above interpretations of these processes have been advanced by 

 various observers. It is the object of this paper to present a true 

 account of the manner in which the scales of wax are transported 

 from their pockets to the comb and to point out some of the causes 

 which lead to diA^ersity in scale number and scale form. 



1 Dreyling, L. 1903. Uober die wachbereitenden Organe der Honigbiene. Zoologischer 

 iVnzeiger, A'ol. 26. 



game. — 1905. Die wachbereitenden Organe bei den gesellig lebenden Bienen. Zoolo- 

 gische Jahrbiicher, Abtheilung fiir Anatomie u. Ontogenie d. Thlere, Vol. 22. 



