434 HOMES WITHOXJT HANDS. 



account of the Hive Bee and its habits ; but as this work is 

 restricted to the habitations of animals, we can only look upon 

 the Bee as a maker of social habitations. It will, however, be 

 necessary to mention the inaterial of which the comb is made. 



The other hymenoptera obtain their materials from external 

 sources. The hornet and wasp have recourse to trees and 

 branches, and bear home in their mouths the bundles of woody 

 fibres which they have gnawed away. The upholsterer and 

 leaf-cutter Bees are indebted to the petals and leaves of various 

 plants, and various wood-boring insects make their homes of 

 the woody particles which they have nibbled away. The Bee, 

 liowever, obtains her wax in a very different manner. 



If the body of a worker Bee be carefully examined, on the 

 under sides of the abdomen will be seen six little flaps, not 

 unlike pockets, the covers of which can be easily raised with a 

 pin or needle. Under these flaps is secreted the wax, which is 

 produced in tiny scales or plates, and may be seen projecting 

 from the flaps like little semilunar white lines. Plenty of food, 

 quiet, and warmth are necessary for the production of wax, 

 and as it is secreted veiy slowly, it is so valuable that the 

 greatest economy is needed in its use. It is, indeed, a wonder- 

 ful substance ; soft enough when warm to be kneaded and to be 

 spread like mortar, and hard enough when cold to bear the 

 weight of brood and honey. Moreover, it is of a texture so 

 close that the honey cannot soak through the delicate walls of 

 the cells, as would soon be the case if the comb were made of 

 Woody fibre, like that of the hornet or wasp. 



Indeed, it is a most remarkable fact that the Bee should be 

 able to produce not only the honey, but the material with which 

 is formed the treasury wherein the honey is stored. Honey 

 itself is again scarcely less remarkable than wax. The Bee goes 

 to certain flowers, inserts its hair-clad proboscis into their re- 

 cesses, sweeps out the sweet juice, passes the laden proboscis 

 through its jaws, scrapes off the liquid and swallows it. The 

 juice then passes into a little receptacle just within the abdomen 

 called the "honey-bag," which is apparently composed of an 

 exceedingly delicate membrane, and seems to discharge no other 

 ofiice than that of a vessel in which the juice can be kept while 

 the Bee is at work. 



As soon as the honey-bag is filled, the Bee flies back to the 



