The Worker 147 



fill extra space with pure honey, when the brood is supplied, 

 have placed extra compartments containing foundation or 

 even empty combs above the brood hive, leaving an en- 

 trance into the upper part from the hive below — and in 

 these "supers" the bees often store a phenomenal quantity 

 of pure honey, which of course is claimed by man as a 

 reward for his ingenuity, and which even from the bee's 

 point of view one should think might belong fairly to man 

 in return for his care of the colony. 



The little boxes of honey bought in the stores are frames 

 taken from these upper stories. 



When comb is first built it is extremely beautiful, being 

 v^'hite and transparent. But the bees use the same cells 

 over and over, both for brood and provisions, so in time 

 comb left in the hive becomes dark-colored and less attrac- 

 tive in appearance, in old bee trees being sometimes almost 

 black. 



The brood combs are built first and are generally hung 

 on the side nearest the entrance to the hive while the extra 

 stores are placed behind or above the brood. 



Honey is a luxury coveted by many creatures willing to 

 steal into the hive and appropriate it, so it is placed as far 

 out of reach as possible. 



The brood is placed in the centre of the comb and close 

 about it is stored the mixture of pollen and honey known as 

 "bee-bread" which the nurses feed to the young. 



The bee-bread, like the honey, is gathered from the 

 flowers by the older bees or " foragers," whose work out- 

 side the hive is very different from that within, and consists 

 in carrying home stores of honey, pollen, " propolis " and 

 water. 



A bee gathering pollen is very different in action from 

 one gathering honey, as she rushes wildly over the flower 

 heads, "kicking up a dust" in a very literal sense. She 



