MANIPULATION OF WAX SCALES OF THE HONEY BEE. 11 



mon to find nearly perfect scales mixed with the wax of a newly 

 made comb. The masticated wax itself is spongy and flaky when 

 it is deposited by the producing bee and will later be reworked, 

 thereby gaining greatly in compactness and smoothness. 



The entire process of the removal of one scale, its mastication, and 

 the application of the wax to the comb is completed in about four 

 minutes, only a very small portion of this interval being consumed in 

 the work of extracting the scale from its pocket and passing it to the 

 mouth, except in cases in which scales appear to be removed with 

 difficulty. 



FREE SCAI.es. 



When wax scales are voluntarily removed they are taken off by 

 the bee which secretes them and in the manner above described. 

 Many, however, are accidentally detached, being loosened from their 

 pockets by movements of the abdomen, incidental cleansing move- 

 ments of the legs, or by contact with objects both within and without 

 the hive. Such scales, and also those which are dropped in tlie 

 course of transference from the wax pocket to the mouth, may or 

 may not be recovered later and added to the comb. Since old wax 

 is used over and over again in the rebuilding of comb, it is but 

 natural to expect that scattered scales would likewise be utilized by 

 the colony and not be allowed to go to waste, and it is probably true 

 that such is usually the case. Yet there appears to be no concerted 

 action among the workers to salvage such particles of wax, no class 

 of comb workers whose duty it is to pick such material from the 

 bottom board of the hive and carry it to the comb. Scales which 

 drop are likely to remain for a long time, and some may even be 

 carried out through the entrance with w^aste material. If, however, 

 scales accidentally dislodged or voluntarily removed fall on the 

 comb among the comb workers they are often noticed by them, picked 

 up, masticated, and built into the comb. If a scale slips from the 

 pollen combs or is fumbled by the bee before being grasped by the 

 mandibles, it is seldom recovered by the worker to which it belongs 

 unless it falls very near her or she stumbles upon it accidentally. 



PARTIAL REMOVAL OF SCALES. 



Although a bee endeavors to remove an entire wax scale at one 

 operation, the attempt is not alwaj^s successful. A scale that has 

 become very thick is difficult of removal, particularly so if the outer 

 edge is broken or beveled. '^Alien the bee applies its pollen combs to 

 such a scale the spines may fail to get a hold upon the wax, or they 

 ma}^ not become sufficientlj^ well fixed in it to make possible the re- 

 moval of the entire scale. Instead of this, shreds and small pieces of 

 wax are torn off and remain sticking to the bristles of the pollen 



