BEES 3 



Thus almost the entire welfare of the community is entrusted 

 to the workers, and it is in these that structural adaptations 

 are most pronounced. The combs of cells are composed of wax 

 that is secreted by glands in the abdomen, and which passes 

 through membranes on the ventral side of the second to the fifth 

 abdominal segments, to appear upon the surface as thin plates 

 projecting between the segments. On the hind pair of legs the 

 workers possess a special apparatus in the form of a pincer, whose 

 two limbs are the distal edge of the tibia and the proximal edge 

 of the first tarsal joint. With this tool the wax plates are 

 removed from the abdomen and transferred to the mandibles, 

 by which they are worked up and applied so as to produce the 

 well-known hexagonal cells. The combs are very different 

 from those of wasps ; in the first place, as stated, they are not 

 constructed of foreign material gathered outside the nest, but 

 of the waxy secretion of the bees themselves ; secondly, the 

 cells do not open downwards nor in single sheets, but horizontally, 

 though with the outer open end slightly higher than the inner, 

 and in double sheets placed back to back ; thirdly, honey and 

 bee-bread (vide infra) are stored in many of the cells, and thus 

 the community is able to pass safely through the winter. The 

 combs are attached to the roof and sides of the hive, or of 

 " frames " provided by the bee-keeper, by means of wax ; but 

 to stop up cracks and holes through which wet, draughts, or 

 enemies might enter, a substance obtained by the bees from 

 the sticky covering of buds and from the crevices of trees, and 

 known as " propolis/' is employed. This gluey material is also 

 used to imprison such intruders as snails or even mice. 



The legs and the jaws are the external organs most modified 

 in adaptation to the needs of the community, for it is by these 

 that pollen, propolis and nectar are gathered and conveyed to 

 the hive. When a bee visits a flower more or less pollen becomes 

 attached to the hairs covering the body. The grains are then 

 brushed out by the pollen-brushes nine rows of hairs on the 

 inner surface of the first tarsal joint of the hind-legs. The brushes 

 ing full of pollen, the hind-legs are crossed while the insect 

 overs in the air, and spine-like bristles that fringe the posterior 

 argin of the tibia are employed to comb the pollen masses 



