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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



© Kurt and Margot Lubinski 

 STOGIES AND SMOLDERING PIPES AID MECHANICAL SMOKERS 



As long as seller and buyer slap hands after each bid, no bystander may interfere by raising the 

 offer, according to the rules of this Netherland bee exchange. When bees swarm in the market, the 

 new colony is publicly sold and the proceeds are donated to charity. 



nitrogenous products which the plants liber- 

 ate in the nectar. All these ingredients are 

 processed in the laboratory of the hive so 

 that we have many varieties and colors of 

 honey (Plate VIII), each peculiar to its 

 flower, each with its distinctive bouquet, 

 color, and characteristic flavor. 



EVERY YOUNG BEE HAS ITS TASK 



Young bees perform manifold duties in 

 maintaining the colony, which, being a self- 

 sustaining community, imposes upon each 

 individual certain health, sanitation, and 

 protective duties. A temperature of about 

 93 degrees Fahrenheit must be maintained 

 in that part of the hive where the queen lays 

 and where all the young bees are reared. 

 This is a concentrated area near the center 

 of the hive, spherical in shape, its size de- 

 pending upon the population of the hive 

 and the season of the year. 



After a cell has served as a cradle for 

 the birth of a young bee, it is thoroughly 

 cleaned. Abnormal larvae are not per- 

 mitted to mature as deformed adults, but 

 are removed from the hive. Sick and ail- 

 ing bees are also encouraged to leave and 



to die outside. Any bees that die while at 

 work are immediately carried out and con- 

 signed to the winds. 



When they are from a week to ten days 

 old, the bees venture into the outside world 

 for the first time, usually on short flights of 

 only a few feet in front of the hive. Dur- 

 ing these so-called play flights, they learn 

 to use their wings and no doubt also note 

 the location of their homes. Toward the 

 close of their duties within the hive young 

 bees appear more often at the entrances 

 until they eventually take over the duty of 

 defending the colony (Plate I). Several 

 dozen may assume this responsibility. 



A SHORT AND BUSY LIFE 



On their first trip to the field, young bees 

 gather water or propolis. The latter is a 

 resinous, gumlike material called bee glue, 

 garnered largely from the buds of various 

 plants and trees. It is used to close the 

 cracks in the hives, to smooth over rough 

 places, to cement the combs securely in 

 place, to regulate the size of the entrances 

 the better to guard the hive, and to control 

 the temperature. 



