THE HIVE-BEE. 455 



Bees are indebted to the petals and leaves of various plants, and 

 various wood-boring insects make their homes of the woodj par- 

 ticles which they have nibbled away. The Bee, however, obtains 

 her wax in a very different manner. 



If the body of a worker Bee be carefully examined, on the 

 under sides of the abdomen will be seen six little flaps, not unlike 

 pockets, the covers of which can be easily raised with a pin or 

 needle. Under these flaps is secreted, the wax, which is pro- 

 duced in tiny scales or plates, and may be seen projecting from 

 the flaps like little semilunar white lines. Plenty of food, quiet, 

 and warmth are necessary for the production of wax, and as it is 

 secreted very slowly, it is so valuable that the greatest economy 

 is needed in its use. It is, indeed, a wonderful substance ; soft 

 enough, when warm, to be kneaded and to be spread like mortar, 

 and hard enough, when cold, to bear the weight of brood and 

 honey. Moreover, it is of a texture so close that the honey can 

 not soak through the delicate walls of the cells, as would soon be 

 the case if the comb were made of woody fibre, like that of the 

 hornet or wasp. 



Indeed, it is a most remarkable fact that the Bee should be able 

 to produce not only the honey, but the material with which is 

 formed the treasury wherein the honey is stored. Honey itself 

 is again' scarcely less remarkable than wax. The Bee goes to 

 certain flowers, inserts its hair-clad proboscis into their recesses, 

 sweeps out the sweet juice, passes the laden proboscis through its 

 jaws, scrapes off the liquid, and swallows it. The juice then . 

 passes into a little receptacle just within the abdomen, called the 

 " honey-bag," which is apparently composed of an exceedingly 

 delicate membrane, and seems to discharge no other office than 

 that of a vessel in which the juice can be kept while the Bee is at 

 work. 



As soon as the honey-bag is filled, the Bee flies back to the 

 hive and disgorges the juice into one of the cells. But, during 

 that short sojourn in the insect, the juice has undergone a change, 

 and been converted into honey, a substance which is quite unlike 

 that from which it was formed, and which has an odor and flavor 

 peculiarly its own. How this change is wrought is at present 

 unknown, for the little bag in which the transformation is made 

 is composed of a membrane that seems incapable of exerting any 

 influence upon the substance contained within it. 



All food that is eaten by the Bee passes through the honey- 



