222 



ELEMENTARY ZOOLOGY 



life and industries of a honey-bee community can be 

 learned by the student from observation, using for a guide 

 some book such as Cowan's "Natural History of the 

 Honey-bee." 



The gathering of food from long distances, the details 

 of wax-making and comb-building, of honey-making (for 



FIG. 83. Comb of the tiny East Indian honey-bee, Apis jlorea, one-third 

 natural size. (From Benton. ) 



the nectar of flowers is made into honey by an interesting 

 process), the storing of food, how the community protects 

 itself from starvation when winter sets in or food is 

 scarce by killing the useless drones and the immature 

 bees in egg and larval stage, and many other phenomena 

 of the life of the bee community present good opportuni- 

 ties for careful observation and field study. Although 

 the community is a persistent or continuous one, the indi- 

 viduals do not live long, the workers hatched in the 

 spring usually not more than two or three months, and 



