THE HIVE BEE 



347 



attempt to procure honey, like the workers; nor does she build 

 cells, guard the hive, or take care of the young. And, except just 

 before swarming time, there is never more than one queen in a hive. 

 In a large hive there will be one queen, perhaps two thousand 

 drones, and from ten to twenty thousand workers. But these 

 numbers vary at different seasons of the year. 



So completely is the time of the queen bee occupied in laying 

 eggs, that she is not expected even to feed herself, but is carefully 



Bee-hives 



fed by some of the workers, who bring her food as she may 

 require it. 



If we could examine a worker bee we should notice six little 

 flaps, like very small pockets, on the lower surface of its body. 

 These flaps are called the " wax-pockets ", and it is from them that 

 the wax exudes with which the " combs " are made. 



When the bees want to make a comb, a number of them hang 

 themselves together in a long string, holding on by one another's 

 feet, and then remain quite still for some hours. At the end of 

 that time from each of the little pockets a very small plate of 

 vrax has exuded. With this the bees set to work to build. 



They knead the wax-plates with their jaws until they have 

 made them quite soft, like so much clay; then, with a great deal 



