68 WAYS OF THE SIX-FOOTED 



The more successful the insect colony, the greater the 

 number of young. Consider once the labor of the bee 

 nurses, who may have, in strong colonies, twelve thou- 

 sand hungry babies to feed every day. The work of 

 the young bees is truly onerous ; for they not only have 

 to be children's nurses but also have to feed the queen 

 and drones, construct the comb, cap the larvaB cells, 

 keep the hive clean, and keep it well ventilated by a 

 process of draughts set up by using their wings as 

 fans. 



To secure the food for the whole society occupies the 

 time of the older and majority of the members of the 

 colony. Among the bees the workers are physically 

 modified for their labors. The hind legs are broadened 

 and concave above, so as to form baskets for the carry- 

 ing of pollen. Between the segments and the lower 

 side of the abdomen are glands for the secretion of wax. 

 Two segments of the hind legs are formed, so as to 

 make forceps to remove the plates of wax after they 

 are secreted. 



One of the most taxing of the bee industries is the 

 making of wax. Bees gorge themselves with honey, 

 then hang themselves up in festoons, or curtains, to 

 the hive, and remain quiescent for hours ; after a time 

 wax scales appear, forced out from the wax pockets. 

 The bees remove these scales with their natural forceps. 



