Social Bees and Wasps 



to go off in a swarm with some of the workers and form 

 new communities. We mentioned that more than one 

 giant cell may be constructed : this means that there will 

 be several queens in the field, but that all of them should 

 be striving for supremacy at the same time would be too 

 much for any well-conducted hive. The workers surmount 

 the difficulty by walling up the giant cells in such a 

 manner that the emergence of the queens is successive 

 and not simultaneous. 



We have told how the community arises and how it is 

 perpetuated, for swarming does not mean the break-up 

 of the old community. We have said little, however, of 

 the tireless activities of the workers. Now the worker 

 bee is a very wonderful creature. In other insect com- 

 munities, the ants and termites, for example, there are 

 various kinds of workers, modified in structure for the 

 better performance of their special duties. The worker 

 bee, however, is a veritable maid-of-all-work. Each 

 individual is so designed that it may efficiently 

 perform any of the sundry duties that may fall to 

 its lot. 



After the initial fortnight spent in nursing, the young 

 worker takes part in foraging expeditions for the purpose 

 of collecting pollen and honey, in the shape of nectar. 

 Each worker bee is clothed with branching hairs which 

 are an invaluable aid in pollen collecting. The pollen is 

 taken from the ripe anthers of flowers, either in the mouth, 

 or the fore-legs, or on the hairs clothing the abdomen of 

 the forager. Having become well laden with the golden 

 dust, the bee manipulates its legs in a manner worthy of 

 a contortionist, and collects its treasure together, before 

 transferring it to the pollen baskets on the thighs of its 

 hind legs. These baskets consist of a hollow, surrounded 

 by stiff bristles which hold the pollen in place. Laden 

 with its booty, the forager returns to the hive and, with 

 the help of its middle legs, takes the pollen from the 

 baskets and deposits it in an empty cell. The inside 



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