362 TEXT-BOOK OF ZOOLOGY 



seen, are developed in a larger space, and in the larval condition are 

 probably supplied with food in larger quantity and of better quality 

 than the rest. 



Bees accordingly construct their dwellings for the sake of their 

 progeny. This, however, is of importance also to the bee society ; for 

 since each of the helpless larvae inhabits a separate chamber (cell), it 

 receives much better nurture, and is much less liable to be disturbed 

 during its pupal rest than would otherwise be the case. In consequence 

 of this careful nurture only a few of the larvae perish, especially as they 

 are developed in a closed space like the hive, where they are protected 

 against wet, cold and enemies. But in proportion as the number of 

 bees (workers) in a hive is greater, so much better will be performed all 

 those various tasks which are necessary for the maintenance and welfare 

 of the community. One of the most important of these tasks we shall 

 immediately become acquainted with in briefly considering — 



4. The Winter Best of the Bee Community.- — The temperature of a 

 beehive, even in a severe winter, does not as a rule fall beloiv 10° C. 

 (= 50° F.). Indeed, were it to sink much below this, the bees would 

 become numbed with cold and perish, as may often be seen in the open 

 on spring days or on very cool evenings in summer. Whence is this 

 heat in the hive derived ? In the body of a bee, as in that of every 

 other animal, heat is produced by the oxidation of material (see Part I., 

 p. 7) ; in the present case, of course, as in all " cold-blooded animals," this 

 heat amounts to very little (see Part II., p. 229). A portion of it is lost to 

 the surrounding air, if that happens to be cooler than the body of the 

 insect. Now, since the bee is shut up in the hive, its temperature will 

 be raised to some extent, and since, of the thousands of bees which 

 inhabit the hive, each gives up some of the heat it produces to the air of 

 its dwelling, we in this manner get the resultant temperature of the hive. 



This will also explain why bees in winter do not become rigid from the 

 cold, or enter upon a winter sleep (hibernation), like insects which pass 

 their winter in solitude in the open air. However, if bees during the 

 long winter season abstained altogether from food, they would gradually 

 cool down, until finally they would be numbed by the cold and freeze, 

 for, as we know, the body heat of an animal is produced solely by 

 the combustion of the ingested food. Now, whence is food obtain- 

 able during this season, when all the flowers have long since died, 

 and when an excursion into the cold air would be attended with fatal 

 consequences to the insects ? The food required at this season has, in 

 fact, to be stored up. Accordingly, during the flower-laden season, the 

 bees fill a part of their comb with honey and pollen, closing each of the 

 honey-cells air-tight with a lid of wax to prevent the precious stuff from 



