The Wonderful Ways of Insects and Spiders [ 263 



How Bees Make Honeycombs: To store honey, honeybees man- 

 ufacture cells from wax produced by certain glands in their 

 bodies. (Bumblebees do this also. Many species make their cells 

 of wood, leaves, or earth.) 



The making of a honeybee comb is an amazing example of 

 co-operative effort. A group of bees begin by forming a living 

 curtain of their bodies, each one holding on with its forefeet 

 to the hind feet of the bee above. After they have remained in 

 that position for some time, little plates of wax appear on each 

 insect's abdomen. They then chew the wax and form it into a 

 comb. 



The Bee's "Honey Stomach": The nectar that the bees take from 

 flowers becomes honey in the insects' "honey stomach." This 

 organ is not involved in ordinary digestion; the nectar is mixed 

 in the honey stomach with secretions from glands that cause 

 chemical changes. The cane sugar of nectar, for example, turns 

 into the fruit sugar of honey a form that we can digest more 

 readily. 



Money From Honey: Keeping honeybees is a hobby that may 

 be made to pay dividends. Some people are successful at housing 

 them in relatively small back yards, so long as there are nearby 

 meadows to which the insects can fly. Bees need comparatively 

 little care, but before you purchase a swarm or hive, you will 

 do well to seek advice either directly from an expert or from 

 literature on the subject. 



Some Unpopular Insects 



WASPS CLEVER PAPERMAKERS 



Proud indeed is the young nature collector who can add 

 a hornet's nest to his home exhibits. It is a real showpiece an 

 impressive example of the skill of the insects often claimed to be 

 the cleverest of the entire six-footed tribe. 



The bald-faced hornet is one of several wasps that manufacture 

 paper by chewing bits of wood to a pulp and use it to construct 

 nests sometimes massive in size. Some wasps like the hornet- 

 suspend the nest from a branch of a tree or bush, while others 



