328 THE INSECT WORLD. 
other bees are occupied, either in constructing new cells, or in 
polishing or bordering the cells already built; it offers them 
honey, as if to prevent them from being under the necessity of 
leaving their work to go and get it themselves.” 
The honey which fills the store cells is intended for daily con- 
sumption, and also intended as a reserve for the period when the 
flowers furnish no more. The empty cells are left open, the 
workers making use of them when they want them, particularly 
during rainy days, which’ keep them at home. But the cells 
which contain the honey put by in reserve are closed. ‘They 
are,” says Réaumur, “like so many little pots of jam or jelly, 
each one of which has its covering, and a very solid covering it 
is too.” This covering, composed of wax, hermetically seals the 
pots containing this reserve of honey. The object of this is to 
keep the honey in a certain state of liquidity, by preventing the 
evaporation of the water it contains. It is a remarkable fact that 
if does not run out of those cells which are open, although their 
position is almost always horizontal. This is because there are 
always in the sides of these narrow tubes points enough to keep it 
in, and that besides this the last layer of honey is always of greater 
consistency than the liquid in the interior, and upon which it 
forms a sort of crust. 
When the harvest has been abundant, many combs of closed cells 
may be found in each hive, perfect storehouses of abundance, fur- 
nished for the wants of the bad season. When the construction 
of the cells goes on well,—often on the day after the bees have 
installed themselves in their hive,—the queen goes out to meet 
the males. At the hour when these are accustomed to disport 
themselves in the sun, that is to say, from noon till five o’clock, 
she leaves the hive, whirls about for a few seconds, and disappears 
into the air. At the end of half an hour she returns, pregnant. 
When the female returns to the hive, she is the object of every 
attention, the workers pressing round her, and forming quite a 
train. Many approach her, and lick the surface of her body ; 
others brush her, caress her, and present her their trunks full of 
honey. Forty-eight hours after her return to the hive, the mother 
bee generally begins laying.* Running over the honeycomb, she 
* Not invariably, the period is often longer.—Kb. 
