THE BEE. 101 



same passage by which it was swallowed. Every 

 comb newly made is white ; but it becomes yel- 

 low as it grows old, and almost black when kept 

 too long in the hive. Beside the wax thus digest- 

 ed, there is a large portion of the powder kneaded 

 up for food in every hive, and kept in separate 

 cells for winter provision. This is called by the 

 country people bee-bread, and contributes to the 

 health and strength of the animal during winter. 

 Those who rear bees may rob them of their honey, 

 and feed them during the winter with treacle ; 

 but no proper substitute has yet been found for 

 the bee-bread, and without it the animals become 

 consumptive, and die. 



As for the honey, it is extracted from that part 

 of the flower called the nectareum. From the 

 mouth this delicious fluid passes into the gullet, 

 and then into the first stomach or honey-bag, 

 which when filled appears like an oblong bladder. 

 Children that live in country places are well ac- 

 quainted with this bladder, and destroy many bees 

 to come at their store of honey. When a bee has 

 sufficiently filled its first stomach, it returns back 

 to the hive, where it disgorges the honey into 

 one of the cells. It often happens that the bee 

 delivers its store to some other at the mouth of 

 the hive, and flies off for a fresh supply. Some 

 honeycombs are always left open for common use, 

 but many others are stopped up till there is a ne- 

 cessity of opening them. Each of these is cover- 

 ed carefully with wax, so close, that the covers 

 seem to be made at the very instant the fluid is 

 deposited within them. 



