DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



20 9 



The workers do all of the work. Some of them visit 

 the flowers, take up the nectar into the honey sac, located 

 in their abdomens, and carry it to the hive. There other 

 workers create a breeze by buzzing with their wings, and 

 produce heat by their activity, all to cause the water to 

 evaporate from the nectar and to convert it into honey 

 before it is sealed up in the comb. After a big day's 

 gathering you may often hear these tireless workers buzz- 

 ing till late into the night, or even all through the night. 



You know that the bees get nectar from the flowers of 

 various plants. Some of the chief honey plants are alfalfa, 

 buckwheat, horse mint* sourwood, white sage, wild penny- 

 royal, black gum, holly, chestnut, magnolia, and the tulip, 

 often called the poplar. The yield of honey may often 

 be increased by providing special 

 pasturage for the bees. The 

 linden tree, for example, besides 

 being ornamental and valuable 

 for timber, produces a most bee- 

 inviting flower. Vetch, clover, 

 and most of the legumes and 

 mints are valuable plants to fur- 

 nish pasture for bees. Catnip 

 may be cultivated for the bees 

 and sold as an herb as well. 



In spraying fruit trees to pre- 

 vent disease, you should always 

 avoid spraying when the trees are in bloom,, since the poison 

 of the spray seriously endangers the lives of your bees. 



The eggs laid by the queen, if they are to produce workers, 

 require about twenty-one days to bring forth the perfect 



FIG. 191. A CARNIOLAN 

 QUEEN 



From a drawing furnished by the 

 United States Department of 

 Agriculture 



