29 



supplying the colony with honey and pollen. As the^queen continues to be prolific, more 

 workers are added, and the nest is gradually enlarged. 



The government of these colonies seems to be somewhat different from that observed 

 in the hives of the honey-bees. The latter have but one queen, the mother of the whole 

 swarm, while their cousins, the humble-bees, have many queens, or large females, in their 

 nests at one time, after the first broods have become developed. There are also a number 

 of small females, which produce only male eggs and do not survive the winter. The large 

 females, or queens, alone hibernate, and become the founders of new colonies the following 

 year, in the manner described above ; their eggs produce neuters or workers first, and 

 afterwards apparently females of both kinds, or males or drones. The number of indivi- 

 duals in a nest varies very much with the species, and is said to be fewer in those located 

 above ground than in the subterranean colonies. We have found less than thirty indivi- 

 duals in a nest under some of the boards in a fence corner, but that was in October, when 

 many may have perished from the assaults of various enemies. In the nest of an English 

 species, bomb us terrestris, which is situated a foot or more beneath the surface of the 

 earth, there have been found 107 males, 56 females and 180 workers. 



" About the middle of summer " — to resume our quotation from Professor Putnam — 

 "*' eggs are deposited which produce both small females and males. All eggs laid after the 

 last of July produce the large females or queens, and the males being stili in the nests, it 

 is supposed that the queens are impregnated at this time, as on the approach of cold 

 weather, all, except the queens, die. It is desirable to ascertain whether the queens 

 remain torpid during cold weather, and what use is made of the pollen and honey stored 

 during the end of summer and in autumn ; it may perhaps be food for the queens during 

 mild weather in early spring before any plants are in blossom. Very little wax is made 

 by the humble bees, as it is only used for covering the cocoons of the larva?, for thinly 

 lining the nest or the inside, for strengthening the old cells which are used for honey 

 pots, and occasionally covering these pots, and for propping up the cells." 



One important use of the wax made by these bees, especially those that make their 

 nests in the meadows without much protection from the weather, is the lining of the roof 

 of the nest. Between the cells and the outer covering of fine grass or hay, a coating of 

 wax is attached to the inside of the protecting mass, and forms a waterproof envelope 

 "for the store within. How this wax is produced is thus described by Dr. McCook : 

 " Tenants of an old Farm," p. 176 — a most charming book on insects. " The bee secretes 

 the wax from its own body. On the under side of the abdomen are six little flaps, not 

 unlike pockets, the covers of which can be easily raised with a pin. Under these flaps is 

 secreted the wax, which is produced in tiny seals or flaps, and may be seen projecting 

 from the flaps like little half-moon-shaped white lines. A scale of wax is drawn out from 

 the abdominal ring by pincers fixed at the joint of one of the hind pair of legs, and is 

 carried to the mouth. It is there worked up by the mandibles and tongue, and undergoes 

 some important change. Plenty of food, quiet and warmth are necessary for the pro- 

 duction of wax, and as it is secreted very slowly, it is extremely valuable and used by the 

 bees with great economy. How wax is formed within the body of the bee we cannot 

 explain, any more than we can tell how the liquid silk is produced within the spider's silk 

 glands. The author of Nature has endowed these creatures with such gifts, and the power 

 to use them — we go no further. But it is a wonderful substance, soft enough, when 

 warm, to be kneaded and spread like mortar, and hard enough when cool to bear the 

 weight of brood and honey. Moreover, it is of a texture so close that honey cannot 

 soak through the delicate walls of the cells, which are perfect, natural honey-pots. 



In order to gather honey, the bee has at the end of its- face a long, hair clad proboscis 

 or tongue which it inserts into the recesses of flowers, brushes out the nectar, passes the 

 laden tongue, through its jaws, scrapes off the sweet liquid and swallows it. Just within 

 the abdomen the assophagus expands into a little sac called the crop or honey-bag, and 

 into this the nectar is passed. If the bee wants to eat, it opens a minute valve which 

 divides the crop from the stomach which is just beyond it, and lets out enough to satisfy 

 its hunger. As long as the valve is closed the nectar accumulates, and when the crop is 

 filled the bee flies home and regurgitates the collected sweets into one of the honey-cells. 



