430 HONEY PRODUCTION. 



is over, the greater part of the bees have harvested, and 

 brought, to their newly-hatched companions, all the honey 

 that the latter can possibly hold in their sacks. What shall 

 they do with the surplus? They have to go into that upper 

 story, and hang there (205) for hours, waiting for the 

 honey to be transformed into beeswax, by the wonderful ac- 

 tion of these admirable Httle stomachs, whose work man can- 

 not imitate, despite his science. But, while this slow trans- 

 formation is going on, while the small scales of wax are 

 emerging from under the rings of the abdomen (201) of 

 each industrious little worker ; while their sisters are slowly 

 but busily carrying, moulding and arranging the warm little 

 pieces of wax in their respective places, in order to build 

 the frail comb (206) ; during all this time, the honey is 

 flowing in the blossoms, and the other colony is fast increas- 

 ing its supply of sweets. Meanwhile, the few bees, which 

 have found a place for their load, go back after more, and, 

 finding no room, they watch for the appearance of each 

 hatching bee, from its cell, and at once fill that cell with 

 honey ; thus depriving the queen of her breeding-room, 

 and forcing her to remain idle, at a time when she should 

 be laying most busily. 



The loss is therefore treble. First, this colony loses the 

 present work of all the bees which have to remain inside to 

 help make wax. Secondly, it loses the honey of which this 

 wax is made. Thirdly, it loses the production of thousands 

 of workers, by depriving the queen of her breeding-room, 

 in the brood-chamber. All this, for what purpose? To 

 enable the owner to eat his honey with the wax (719); 

 when, as every one well knows, wax is tasteless and in- 

 digestible. 



One word more in regard to the loss of production, by 

 the crowding of the queen. This loss is two-fold in itself. 

 When the bees find that the queen is crowded out of her 



