l8 THE BOOK OF BEE-KEEPING. 



the bee's anterior legs, assisted by a peculiar motion of the body, 

 and carried thence to the mouth, where it is moulded into 

 ribbons, and then adjusted to any particular portion of the combs 

 required. When comb-building is going on, a quantity of these 

 scales are dropped on the floor-board of the hive; they can then 

 be examined, and will be found to be in the form of an irregular 

 pentagon (five-sided figure), not unlike fish-scales, or flakes of 

 spermaceti. 



32. FoUen. — The nitrogenous portion of the bee's food is called 

 pollen. This can scarcely be called a product of the bee, as it 

 is gathered from the stamens of the flowers, and in its original 

 condition conveyed, on the two posterior legs of the bee, to the 

 hive. When a bee arrives in the hive with its load of pollen, 

 it proceeds to a worker-cell, and, placing its legs in the cell, it 

 scrapes the two pollen balls off, and leaves them there, to be packed 

 by the other bees ; these cells are very rarely filled with pollen, 

 a number being partially filled, and honey placed on the top. 

 We are very much of opinion that such proceedings are essential 

 for the preservation of the pollen through the winter, as, in the 

 springtime, where the honey has been consumed from off the 

 top, it quickly mildews, and f6rms into a solid, white substance; 

 which, in the forin of hexagonal pellets, are frequently seen cast 

 out of the hive at this season. 



33. Propolis. — This is another material collected — not pro- 

 duced — by the bees, principally from the buds of resinous trees 

 and shrubs, such as firs and horse chestnuts, and packed by them 

 in their pollen-baskets. When taken to the hive, it is removed 

 by the other bees, and drawn out into thin lines, and then used 

 to stop up all crevices, affix loose portions of the hive, and cover 

 over any noxious substance that is too heavy for removal from 

 the hive, thus forming an hermetically sealed casing. It is 

 never packed by the bees in their combs as pollen. Although 

 principally collected from trees and shrubs, the bees will also 

 remove it from old, disused hives, or varnished materials. We 

 once saw a hive, which the owner had taken great pains to 

 varnish, literally covered with bees, who in time removed nearly 

 every scrap of varnish from off it. Autumn is the chief time 

 for bees to propolise their hives, no doubt to keep out the severe 

 weather expected during winter. 



v.— COMBS. 



34. Worker-combs. — These are built by the worker bees 

 entirely of wax, and vary in shape very considerably, in order to 

 accommodate them to the position they occupy in a hive or 

 other place. They are constructed of numerous hexagonal cells, 

 branching out almost horizontally from each side of a midrib, 

 or septum. The worker-cells are about -j-in. in diameter, there- 



