152 



ANIMAL LIFE 



nectar, and buzz that is, vibrate their wings violently. 

 This creates currents of air which pass over the exposed 

 nectar and increase the evaporation of the water. The 

 violent buzzing raises the temperature of the bees' bodies, 

 and this warmth given off to the air also helps make evap- 

 oration more rapid. In addition to bringing in food the 

 workers also bring in, when necessary, " propolis," or the 

 resinous gum of certain trees, which they use in repairing 

 the hive, as closing up cracks and crevices in it. 



In many of the cells there will be found, not pollen or 

 honey, but the eggs or the young bees in larval or pupal 



condition (Fig. 90). 

 The queen moves 

 about through the 

 hive, laying eggs. 

 She deposits only one 

 egg in a cell. In 

 three days the egg 

 hatches, and the 

 young bee appears 

 as a helpless, soft, 

 white, footless grub 

 or larva. It is cared 

 for by certain of the 

 workers, that may be 

 called nurses. These nurses do not differ structurally from 

 the other workers, but they have the special duty of caring 

 for the helpless young bees. They do not go out for pollen 

 or honey, but stay in the hive. They are usually the new 

 bees i. e., the youngest or most recently added workers. 

 After they act as nurses for a week or so they take their 

 places with the food-gathering workers, and other new 

 bees act as nurses. The nurses feed the young or larval 

 bees at first with a highly nutritious food called bee-jelly, 

 which the nurses make in their stomach, and regurgitate 

 for the larvae. After the larvae are two or three days old 



FIG. 90. Cells containing eggs, larvae, and pupse of 

 the honey-bee. The lower large, irregular cells 

 are queen cells. After BENTON. 



