HYMENOPTERA. 



323 



wax,'then, is produced by the insect by exudation, and is not simply 

 the pollen gathered from flowers. Huber himself states that bees 

 exclusively nourished on pollen do not secrete wax, and that, on the 

 contrary, they do furnish it when they eat saccharine matter. It is 



Fig. 316. Clusters of Bees. 



easy to perceive the little plates of wax by slightly raising the last 

 rings of the bee's abdomen. Fig. 315 represents a bee very heavily 

 laden with this matter. 



The working bees suspend themselves from the roof of the hive in 

 such a manner as to form festoons. The first clings to the roof with 

 his front legs, the second hooks himself on to the hind legs of the 

 first, and so on, as is shown in Fig. 316. They in this manner form 



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