366 General Biology 



The cells which fasten the comb to the top and sides of the hive are 

 called attachment cells. 



Bees gather nectar (not honey) from flowers. The maxillae and 

 the labial palpi form a tube through which the tongue can move back- 

 ward and forward. As the epipharynx is lowered, a definite passage 

 connects this tube with the oesophagus. The nectar itself becomes 

 attached to the hairs on the tongue, and is forced upward by pressing 

 maxillae and palpi together. It is then swallowed into the honey-sac 

 where the necessary chemical changes, which convert it into honey, take 

 place. Here it is retained until the bee reaches the hive, when it is 

 regurgitated into the cells made to receive it. As there is much water 

 in newly-formed honey, the cells are left open until the water is con- 

 siderably evaporated. This is called the "ripening process." When the 

 honey is "ripe" the cell is capped with wax. 



The bees keep their wings moving while in the hive both to keep 

 air circulating and (in winter) to produce heat. 



About thirty to fifty pounds of honey are produced a season by one 

 hive if conditions are favorable. 



As honey lacks proteins, bees gather pollen by means of their mouth 

 parts and legs, and mix it with either saliva or even nectar to make it 

 sticky. It is then placed by the hind legs in the pollen baskets. As 

 the bee enters the hive, it backs up to a cell in which a larva is placed, 

 and scrapes the pollen into such cell by aid of the spur already men- 

 tioned. The deposited substance is known as "bee-bread." The young 

 workers then pack this bee-bread into the cells by using their heads as 

 tampers. 



Still another substance, known as propolis or "bee-glue," is gathered 

 by bees for the purpose of filling up cracks, for strengthening weak 

 parts, or even, probably, as a sort of varnish. Propolis is merely the 

 resinous material gathered from various plants which is then inserted 

 into the pollen basket. When propolis is brought to the hive by a worker, 

 another worker removes it from the gatherer. It is this other worker 

 which also applies it where needed. 



In warm, dry weather water is often sucked into the honey-sac from 

 dew, brooks, or ponds, and then carried to the larvae in the hive. In 

 cool weather enough water usually condenses in the hive. In fact, so 

 much moisture may condense as to injure the occupants. 



All debris is removed immediately so that cleanliness is always 

 insured. 



ENEMIES OF THE HONEY BEE 



There is a bee-moth, Galleria mellonella, which, when it can find 

 an entry, lays its eggs in the hive. The larvae then feed on pollen, 

 cocoons, and even cast-off larval skins. They burrow into the comb and 

 line their burrow with a silk which protects them from the bees, much 

 as a spider's web can either keep out or entrap insects. 



