43. BEE-KEEPING. 



Bees and Flowers Every country boy or girl knows 

 that nectar is gathered by bees. These little workers fly 

 about from flower to flower, collect the nectar drop by 

 drop, with wonderful industry and patience, and carry it 

 home, where, after freeing it of much of the water which 

 it contains, and adding a preservative acid, they store it 

 away in regular tiers of waxen cells. Then when the 

 weather is so cold that they can not leave the home, they 

 have food on which to live. Bees do not injure the 



Worker. Queen. Drone. 



FIG. 144. Honey bees. 



flowers which they visit. On the contrary, they help 

 them to bear more seed and fruit. Our orchards and 

 berry fields yield more and better fruit because of the bees. 

 Social Life of the Bees. Wild bees live in hollow 

 trees, or sometimes in crevices in rocks; but the honey 

 of the market is gathered by tame bees, that is, by bees 

 that -are kept on the farm. Bees live in large families or 

 colonies, each of which has its queen. Each colony, or, 

 as it is frequently called, " swarm," lives in its own 

 house or " hive," and the bees of one hive are not wel- 



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