THE MIND IN THE HIVE 143 
unoccupied space being obviously the course of the 
intake. Thus the bees’ system of ventilation can be 
described as a swiftly-flowing loop of air, having 
both extremities outside the hive, much as a rope 
moves over a pulley, and it can be readily under- 
stood that any supplementary inlet or outlet—such 
as the bee-master would instal, if he were permitted 
—would be rather a hindrance to the system than a 
help. Probably the actual main current keeps to 
the walls of the hive throughout, the ventilation 
between the brood-combs being more _ slowly 
effected. This would fulfil a double purpose. The 
air supplied to the central portion, or brood-nest 
proper, would be thoroughly warmed before it 
reached the young larve, while the outer and upper 
combs, where the stores of new honey are maturing, 
would lie in the full stream. 
It must be remembered that a constant supply 
of fresh air of the right temperature is as necessary 
for the brewing honey as it is for the bees and 
young brood. The nectar, as gathered from the 
flowers, needs to be deprived of the greater part of 
its moisture before it becomes honey. Thus, in the 
course of the season, many gallons of water must 
pass out of the hive in the form of vapour, and the 
removal of this water constitutes an important part 
of the work of the ventilating army. Here, again, 
the wisdom of the bees in insisting on a mechanical, 
as opposed to an automatic, system of air-renewal, 
becomes evident. If the warm, moisture-laden air 
were left to discharge itself from the hive by its 
own buoyancy, condensation of this moisture would 
take place on the cooler surfaces of the hive-walls, 
and the lower regions of the hive would speedily 
