Social Bees and Wasps 



Now, having learned something of the inmates of the 

 hive, let us pay a little attention to some of the events 

 which take place in the bee home. It is better to start 

 at the beginning of the story that is to say, at the period 

 of the formation of a new community. Everyone has 

 heard of a " swarm " of bees. Most people are aware that 

 a " swarm " consists of one queen and some workers, whose 

 numbers may vary from two to twenty thousand or even 

 more. The reason for swarming may not be so generally 

 known : it simply arises from a desire on the part of the 

 queen to seek a new home. If left to themselves, the 

 swarming bees would find some convenient hollow and 

 settle there, but they are too precious to be allowed to 

 stray in this manner, so the alert bee-keeper transfers 

 them to a new hive. 



Once in possession of their home, the workers lose no 

 time in making it habitable. Without delay they secrete 

 wax with which the comb is built up. The formation of 

 wax is a very interesting process. On the under surface 

 of a worker bee there are four pairs of thin, five-sided 

 plates, called wax plates. They are perforated with a 

 number of fine holes through which the wax oozes ; it 

 is really formed by certain cells of the skin beneath the 

 plates. The wax-producing workers fortify themselves 

 for their task by eating an inordinate amount of honey 

 it is said that I Ib. of wax represents a consumption of 

 15 Ib. of honey. Then they gather together in such a 

 manner as to form a festoon, hanging from the roof of 

 the hive. In this position they remain for hours, or maybe 

 for two or three days, during which time they contrive 

 to increase the temperature of their bodies. Eventually 

 their transparent, shining scales appear on the wax plates. 

 When sufficient wax has been produced it is nipped off 

 by the workers by means of special nippers on their hind 

 legs, chewed up in their mouths so that it will be well 

 mixed with saliva and then taken to the spot where the 

 comb is to be constructed. Here it is compressed and 



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