THE HIVE BEE. 265 



fibres which they have gnawed away. The upholsterer and 

 ieaf-cutter Bees are indebted to the petals and leaves of various 

 plants, and various wood-boring insects make their homes of 

 the woody particles which they have nibbled away. The Bee, 

 however, obtains her wax in a very different manner. 



If the body of a worker Bee be carefully examined, on the 

 under sides of the abdomen will be seen six little flaps, not 

 unlike pockets, the covers of which can be easily raised with a 

 pin or needle. Under these flaps is secreted the wax, which is 

 produced in tiny scales or plates, and may be seen projecting 

 from the flaps like little semilunar white lines. Plenty of food, 

 quiet, and warmth are necessary for the production of wax, and 

 as it is secreted very slowly, it is so valuable that the greatest 

 economy is needed in its use. It is, indeed, a wonderful 

 substance ; soft enough when warm to be kneaded and to be 

 spread like mortar, and hard enough when cold to bear the 

 weight of brood and honey. Moreover, it is of a texture so 

 close that the honey cannot soak through the delicate walls of 

 the cells, as would soon be the case if the comb were made of 

 woody fibre, like that of the hornet or wasp. 



Indeed, it is a most remarkable fact that the Bee should 

 be able to produce not only the honey, but the material with 

 which is formed the treasury wherein the honey is stored. 

 Honey itself is again scarcely less remarkable than wax. The 

 Bee goes to certain flowers, inserts its hair-clad proboscis into 

 their recesses, sweeps out the sweet juice, passes the laden 

 proboscis through its jaws, scrapes off the liquid and swallows 

 it. The juice then passes into a little receptacle just within 

 the abdomen called the 'honey-bag,' which is apparently com- 

 posed of an exceedingly delicate membrane, and seems to dis- 

 charge no other office than that of a vessel in which the juice 

 can be kept while the Bee is at work. 



As soon as the honey-bag is filled, the Bee flies back to the 

 hive and disgorges the juice into one of the cells. But, during 

 that short sojourn in the insect, the juice has undergone a 

 change, and been converted into honey, a substance which is 

 quite unlike that from which it was formed, and which has an 



