122 FOOD OF BEES. 



honey-bee. Larger insects, such as the bumble-bee, or smaller 

 ones, as some wasps, enjoy it to the exclusion of our favorites. 

 Yet in some seasons, we have seen bees working on red-clover 

 bloom, and have attributed this to the corollas being shorter, 

 owing to drouth, or scant growth. Mr. Bonnier has discovered 

 that, in some such flowers, the nectar is sometimes so abundant 

 that the bees can reach it. It is true that insects, and even 

 bees, can tear the tender corollas of some blossoms, opposite 

 the honey receptacle, to reach the nectar, but this is of such 

 rare instance, in the honey-bee, that it cannot be considered 

 of any practical value. 



361. The honey, when harvested, is stored in the rear 

 of the hive, above the brood, and as near it as possible. 



TMien just gathered, it is too watery to be preserved for 

 the use of the bees. To evaporate this water, they force a 

 strong current of air through the hive, and the bee-keeper 

 can ascertain the days of large honey-yield, by the greater 

 roar of the bees in front of theii' hive during the night fol- 

 lowing. If a strong colony is put on a platform scale, it will 

 be found, during the height of the honey-harvest, to gain a 

 number of pounds on a pleasant day. Much of this weight 

 will be lost in the night, from the evaporation of the newly- 

 gathered honey. A thorough upward ventilation, in hot 

 weather, will therefore contribute to increase the ripening of 

 honey (763). 



When the cell is about full, the bees seal it with a flat cover 

 or capping made of wax. This capping is begun at the lower 

 edge of the cell, and is raised gradually, as the honey is de- 

 posited within, till the cell is entirely sealed. These cappings 

 being flat, depressed, or uneven, are easily distinguished from 

 the caps of the brood, which are convex and of a darker color. 



263. Are the caps of the honey-cells air-tight? 



The caps of the brood-cells, made of pollen and wax, are 

 undoubtedly porous enough to allow the air to reach the 

 larva; and some Apiarists question the imperviousness of the 

 sealing of honey-comb. Mr. Cheshire himself, while of opinion 

 that "the bee aims at compact coverings for her honey," says 

 that "not more than ten per cent of these are absolutely im- 



