266 STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



odour and flavour peculiarly its own. How tins change is 

 ?vrought is at present unknown, for the little bag in wiiich the 

 transformation is made is composed of a membrane that seems 

 incapable of exerting any influence upon the substance con- 

 tained within it. 



All food that is eaten by the Bee passes through the honey- 

 bag, which is closely analogous to the crop of a l^ird, and it 

 would seem that the honey ought rather to pass into the stomach 

 than be disgorged at the will of the insect. However, it is well 

 known that many birds feed their young by disgorging food, and 

 the Bee is enabled to perform the same operation by means 

 of a little valve which leads from the honey-bag into the 

 stomach, and is plainly perceptible even with the unassisted eye. 

 Under ordinary circumstances the valve just allows the food to 

 pass gently and gradually into the stomach ; but the violent 

 effort, which is made in ejecting the food, closes the valve, and 

 only allows the honey to flow upwards through the mouth. 



The office of the worker and drone cells is two-fold — first, 

 to act as nurseries for the insects while passing through their 

 preliminary stages, and next to serve as repositories for food, 

 whether liquid or solid. The t.%g of the Queen-Bee is placed 

 nearly at the bottom of the cell, exactly on the angle where the 

 point of the lozenges meet. It is soon hatched into a little 

 white grub, which is assiduously fed by the nurses, and grows 

 with wonderful rapidit>^ As soon as it has eaten its last larval 

 meal, it spins a silken cover over the cell, and remains there 

 until it has become a perfect insect. It then bites its way out, 

 and after a day or so devoted to hardening and strengthening 

 its limbs, it leaves the hive and joins in the labours of the 

 community. 



No sooner is the Bee fairly out of its waxen nursery, than 

 the workers clear out the cell, and prepare it for the reception 

 of honey. As soon as the cell is filled, the Bees close up the 

 entrance with a waxen door, which is air-tight, and serves to 

 preserve the honey in proper condition. Those who wish to 

 eat honey in its pure state should always purchase it in the 

 comb. If it be stored in pots, however well they may be 



