34 
FOLLOWING THE BEE LINE 
onies seems to dwindle with their numbers and their 
guards do not always succeed in repelling robber 
bees or other intruding insects. 
Balls of pollen—red, yellow, orange, or brown, 
according to the flowers from which it was gathered 
—are noticeable on the hind legs of some. It will 
be stored and when needed for food for the young, 
will be mixed with honey into “bee-bread” accord¬ 
ing to a recipe which they have not as yet divulged 
to the beekeeping world. . . . Their babies’ 
Mellins Food! 
There is a never-failing fascination in watching 
young bees emerge from their cells. When their 
chrysalis stage is over they make perforations in the 
roofs, or caps, of their cells and tear and break their 
way out. Feelers are first seen waving through. A 
head pushes through and draws back. Again it 
emerges and slowly, very slowly the rest of the body 
follows, drawn out with much exertion. . . . 
A tight fit inside! . . . Now it stretches itself 
a little. Its wings fold less closely to its body and 
the child takes its first steps. Lurching, feeble steps, 
which grow steadily stronger. These feeble, gray, 
down-covered little creatures are dazed and bewil¬ 
dered on their entrance into a complicated, active 
world. ... We can take them in our hands as 
