326 FARM ANIMALS 
the relationship of the bee to the flower? What does it take, and 
what does it give? Can it injure fruits if they are not first punc- 
tured or opened by some other agency? 
2. WHERE BeEs Work.—Visit the fields where bees are attend- 
ing flowers, and note the kinds of flowers on which the bees work 
and the kinds on which they do not. (a) Are honey bees found 
on white clover? Are they found on red clover? What is the 
length of the proboscis of a bee? Measure it accurately. (b) 
What is the length of the corolla tube of white clover? What is 
the length of the corolla tube of red clover? Why do bees visit 
the former and not the latter? Make a study of the various flow- 
ers visited by bees in relation to kind, the shape of the blossom, 
length of corolla tube, etc. Do bees visit one kind of flower only 
while on one trip, or do they visit several kinds? 
3. Honey ano [ts Propuction.—If honey and comb from hives 
cannot be obtained, a section can be purchased from almost any 
grocery. (a) What is the thickness of honeycomb? How is it 
supported? How is the honey retained? How are the cells of the 
two sides placed in regard to each other? Upon what do these cells 
rest? Measure the exact depth and diameter of a cell. Are they 
all of the same diameter? What is their shape? Are they of the 
same shape? How are they covered? Is there any space between 
the wax capping and the liquid honey? Puncture it and let out the 
air, and turn it with the covering of the cell downward, or press 
it with the finger. What is the difference in appearance? Why 
was it white before and watery afterward? What are the advan- 
tages of hexagonal cells? Note both economy of material and 
strength of structure. (b) Examine the honey under a microscope. 
Melt the wax capping of a cell very gently on a microscopic slide 
by holding a match under it. Keep it warm and melted while ex- 
amining with a microscope; what is to be found? As a rule pollen 
grains will be found mixed with the honey, and always with the 
capping. Are these all of one kind, or of different kinds? 
The teacher should have some blossoms of different plants and 
trees producing honey, even though they are dry and preserved 
in envelopes for this purpose. The anthers can be softened up by 
moisture, and a few pollen grains obtained; and by careful micro- 
scopic study one can determine the kind of plant from which the 
honey was produced by the kind of pollen grains with it. 
The salient points to be brought out are that workers and queens 
are alike in structure and drones different. There are special 
structures by which a bee is able to perform its peculiar functions 
of visiting and pollenizing certain flowers and gathering nectar. 
This nectar is transformed by the bee into honey, and is stored in 
their waxen cells. The pollen masses are put into other cells as 
bee bread, but accidentally some pollen grains find their way into 
the honey. Pollen grains are used also with the cappings of the 
comb. 
Bees are unable to bite open fruits, although they may suck them 
after other insects or agencies have opened them. Bees visit cer- 
