BEE PRODUCTS. 75 



Silk. The pupal cell is partially lined with silk. This is spun from 

 glands in the head of the larvae. These glands are not used after the 

 bee reaches maturity. 



Wax is a secretion which in the form of plates appears on the ven- 

 tral surface of the second, third, fourth and fifth segments of the ab- 

 domen. The wax is primarily secreted from the blood-cells as a fluid, 

 and becomes more firm when it is transuded upon the abdominal wax 

 pockets shown in the accompanying figure 1. It 

 was erroneously believed for a long time that wax 

 was pollen digested and then regurgitated. It is 

 what might be termed surplus energy, or a case 

 quite parallel to the secretion of fat in animals. 

 Young bees secrete wax well; old bees produce 

 littlewax. The same may be said regarding fat- 

 producing powers of young and old animals. The 

 production of wax exhausts the strength of the bees, 

 and is a heavy tax upon the stores of honey. The 

 bees intending to produce wax gorge themselves 

 FIG. i. Secretion with honey, and in about twenty-four hours after- 

 ?arged,from S ' l iii^s- ward wax begins to transude and appear upon the 

 tneW Bienenzei- wftx plateg of the a bdoinen. It requires from ten to 



sixteen pounds of honey to produce one pound of 

 wax, according to Langstroth. Some authorities state greater weights 

 and some less. When the amount of honey consumed is reckoned, the 

 matter of comb foundation and subject of care of empty comb should 

 receive careful attention. 



Honey. The reward most coveted is expressed by this word. The 

 word itself has a pleasing sound. It is the symbol of sweetness. The 

 bee, bearer of this esteemed delicacy, collects nectar from the nec- 

 taries of flowers and sap from the trees a little here, a little there. 

 These fluids in their watery state are taken into the honey sac ( pi. 

 in), corresponding to the crop of other insects; instead of passing 

 on into the stomach, the sweet fluid is retained here until the hive is 

 reached. A reference to plate in at this point will make the subject 

 of the honey sac. stomach mouth and stomach sufficiently clear for 

 the purpose of this discussion. The watery nectar of flowers and sap 

 of trees is reduced to the consistency of honey, either by secretion of 

 the water from the bee's honey sac, or evaporation caused by heat 

 and currents of air in the hive. These currents of air, forced by the 

 fanning of bees' wings up through the hive and over the uncapped 

 honey, do much toward ripening and removing unpleasant (probably 

 volatile) flavors. Formic acid is found in honey ; the exact form and 

 amount have not been satisfactorily determined by chemists. 



