658 
ARTICTJLATA. 
WOUKING BEES. 
also fill tlieir little baskets. Thus loaded tlie bees return to deposit in the interior of the hive, the 
materials collected, which being done, they set out again in quest of more. The labor in the inte- 
, J rior of the hive is more complex. They 
begin by closing with the propohs 
every fissure in the habitation, leaving 
but one operung of no great dimen- 
sions. They next proceed to the for- 
mation of the comb intended to lodge 
the young, and to serve as store-cells 
for the provisions of the community. 
The comb is made of wax, found in 
various plants, but which is also secreted 
by the bees themselves in organs situ- 
ated under the abdominal base, and 
suspended perpendicularly by one of 
their sides. Empty spaces are left be- 
tween them to permit of the bees 
reaching every part. The cells are 
arranged horizontally, and are open at 
one of their extremities ; they are all 
of nearly the same dimensions, but 
some few, called royal, are much larger than the others, almost cylindrical, and destined to con- 
tain the female larvae. 
Bees inclose with a covering of wax the cells containing the honey, and they take means to 
strengthen the combs when any accident threatens their safety. The males do not share in these 
labors, and when they are no longer of any use to the community, the working bees sting them 
to death. This carnage takes place between June and x\ugust, and it extends even to the male 
larvffi and nymphse. 
The female does no work ; she is always pampered and attended to with the utmost care by 
the rest of the hive. She is larger and longer than the other bees ; she moves in a slow and 
THE HONBT-COliB. 
