BEES. 173 



500 to 1,000 drones. The Queen is the female or mother that 

 lays the eggs, the workers are females that gather the nectar 

 and do the work, and the drones are the males. 



THE COMB. Next we observe the comb. It is made up of 

 hundreds of cells in which the honey is being packed, and in 

 which young bees are being hatched. In shape they are six- 

 sided. Why six-sided? If you draw a lot of circles touching 

 one another there will be some vacant spaces between. If you 

 draw squares or triangles you can fit them closely together, but 

 there will be sharp corners to fill in. Now if you draw a lot of 

 regular six-sided figures you can fit them all together, there 

 will be no vacant spaces, and no sharp corners. Cells of that 

 shape will be strongly built. In fact you cannot improve on 

 the shape of the cell which the bee makes. The comb is 

 made up of wax, bees-wax we call it. The bees make this out 

 of honey, but it takes some time, and therefore bee-keepers 

 help the bees in their work by starting it for them. They 

 make the beginnings or foundations of the combs for the bees. 

 These foundations are put in, and when completed by the 

 bees can be easily taken out separately. This is one reason 

 why we get much more honey from our hives than we would 

 from the wild hives of the bees where they have to be con- 

 stantly making the whole cells for themselves. 



Some of the cells are used for storing honey and pollen, and 

 some are used by the Queen bee for hatching out the young bees. 

 The egg is laid in the cell by the Queen. Then the workers place 

 beside it some jelly made up of honey and pollen to be used 

 as food. In about three days the egg hatches and a little 

 larva appears. This feeds and grows, and in about six days 

 fills up the cell. Then the bees put a cover or lid of wax 

 thread on the cell, the larva goes into the second or pupa 

 stage (see page no) that we have noticed in connection with 

 other insects, and in about twelve or fourteen days the perfect 

 bee appears and comes out of the cell, a worker bee. The 



