50 BEE-KEEPING FOR PROFIT 
are composed is produced from the body of 
the bee itself. It forms in thin plates under- 
neath the abdomen, these plates being kneaded 
by the jaws into the required consistency and 
form. When comb-making is in progress the 
bees cluster together in festoons, very similar 
in appearance to a swarm. It is, of course, 
an exceedingly slow process, and the modern 
bee-keeper, to expedite matters in this direc- 
tion, assists the bees by giving them ready- 
made foundation on which to build their cells. 
Fortunately the bees have proved amenable 
to this ‘‘ hustling’’ process and are thus able 
to devote a larger part of their short life to the 
more remunerative work—from the bee-keeper’s 
point of view—of honey-producing. 
Chyle Food.—As before stated, this is the 
rich substance with which the queen is fed, and 
the worker grub indulged in for a short period. 
It is regurgitated from the chyle or second 
stomach of the young or nurse bees. All 
authorities agree that the power to produce 
the food gradually diminishes after the insect 
is a fortnight old. It follows, then, either that 
the young bees have the power to withhold the 
supply during a period of rest, or the power 
to assimilate it is acquired by the older bees, 
in proportion to their age and the ordinary food 
