12 



plates of the abdomen, appearing in the form of thin project- 

 ing plates after collecting on peculiar membranes m connec- 

 tion with these plates- In producing ,t the bees hang w thm 

 the hive in festoons or curtains. As the bees become older, 

 they go out and gather nectar, pollen, or propolis they act as 

 guards remove the debris, and attend to any other work ot 

 the hive With the exception of the store-gathering, how- 

 ever none of these duties takes the exclusive and continuous 

 occupation of one bee or set of bees. Any bee may take up 

 any part of the work at any time and leave it at any time ; 

 but there is always something to be done, and all the time the 

 bees are working strenuously, doing a little here and a little 

 there, and by their aggregate effort the work is somehow 

 accomplished. As previously stated, the worker is not sexless 

 but merely undeveloped. In a colony which has lost its queen 

 and is left without eggs or young larvae from which to de- 

 velop one, it often happens that a band of workers, becoming 

 in some unaccountable way sexually developed or capable of 

 laying eggs, begin to lay in the cells. These eggs, of course, 

 are infertile and produce only drones. The presence of laying 

 workers is easily detected, as their eggs are layed without 

 regularity, being deposited on any part of the cell and often 

 accumulating in a pile. They sometimes hatch, however, and 

 for a while several larvae will develop together in a cell. One 

 after another disappears until but one remains, which matures 

 in the usual way. 



Such in a general way is the life history of the hive bee 

 and its economy as a social organism. A consideration of 

 some of the external factors having a bearing on its develop- 

 ment will conclude the treatment of the biology. 



First of all the bee requires a constant supply of food. The 

 natural food of the bee, as must have been gathered from what 

 has preceded, is nectar and pollen, which are gathered from 

 the blossoms of many different plants ; nectar also from certain 

 plants with extra-floral nectaries, and the saccharin exudation 

 of certain insects (leaf-hoppers, plant lice, coccids, white flies, 

 etc.). They also require a certain amount of water, which of 

 course is available everywhere- As the nectar and pollen are 

 required not only by the mature bees but also by the develop- 

 ing brood and are obtainable more abundantly at certain times 

 of the year than at others, the bees gather as much as they 

 possibly can and store the excess in the hive to be used as 

 needed and as a provision against times of scarcitv. In stor- 

 ing the pollen in the cells it is packed in tight and the cells 

 are left uncovered. The honey, however, after it has ripened 



