266 
STRANGE DWELLINGS 
odour and flavour peculiarly its own. How this change is $ 
wrought is at present unknown, for the little bag in which the 
transformation is made is composed of a membrane that seems 
incapable of exerting any influence upon the substance con- 
tained within it.. 
All food that is eaten by the Bee passes through the honey- 
bag, which is closely analogous to the crop of a bird, and it 
would seem that the honey ought rather to pass into the stomach 
than be disgorged at the will of the insect. However, it is well 
known that many birds feed their young by disgorging food, and 
the Bee is enabled to perform the same operation by means 
of a little valve which leads from the honey-bag into the 
stomach, and is plainly perceptible even with the unassisted eye. 
Under ordinary circumstances the valve just allows the food to 
pass gently and gradually into the stomach ; but the violent 
effort, which is made in ejecting the food, closes the valve, and 
only allows the honey to flow upwards through the mouth. 
The office of the worker and drone cells is two-fold — first, 
to act as nurseries for the insects while passing through their 
preliminary stages, and next to serve as repositories for food, 
whether liquid or solid. The egg of the Queen-Bee is placed 
nearly at the bottom of the cell, exactly on the angle where the 
point of the lozenges meet. It is soon hatched into a little 
white grub, which is assiduously fed by the nurses, and grows 
with wonderful rapidity. As soon as it has eaten its last larval 
meal, it spins a silken cover over the cell, and remains there 
until it has become a perfect insect. It then bites its way out, 
and after a day or so devoted to hardening and strengthening 
its limbs, it leaves the hive and joins in the labours of the 
community. 
No sooner is the Bee fairly out of its waxen nursery, than 
the workers clear out the cell, and prepare it for the reception 
of honey. As soon as the cell is filled, the Bees close up the 
entrance with a waxen door, which is air-tight, and serves to 
preserve the honey in proper condition. Those who wish to 
eat honey in its pure state should always purchase it in the 
comb. If it be stored in pots, however well they may be 
