BEE BEHAVIOR 
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comes to a cell o£ honey it enters and eats. 
Just when it begins to eat pollen is unde¬ 
termined. After eating, the young bee com¬ 
mences to comb itself and this procedure 
continues more or less steadily for a day or 
more. At this tender age the insect’s vision 
seems to be very imperfect. Also, it is un¬ 
able to fly; and, if tossed into the air, it 
makes no attempt to use its wings. This 
function appears only at a later age. 
Drones, queens, and workers all spend the 
early hours of their life in much the same 
way, except that queens seem to be able to 
fly sooner than workers. Probably, queens 
most precocious in this way have been held 
in the cells longer than normally and have 
matured in there. 
The color of the young bee deepens with 
age. When they first emerge they are much 
lighter in color than a day or two later. 
This difference is more noticeable with 
queens than with workers or drones. 
HOME LABOR OF BEES. 
The first duty of the worker is the feed¬ 
ing of the larvae, and then a little at a time 
it extends to pollen-packing, propolizing, 
comb-cleaning and repairing, honey-ripen¬ 
ing, and comb-building. 
THE FIRST POLLEN OF THE SEASON. 
When a bee comes in from the field with 
a load of pollen, she is often surrounded by 
other bees, all trying to get a bite of the 
coveted food. This is especially noticeable 
in the spring when fresh pollen first ap¬ 
pears. It is amusing to watch a pollen¬ 
laden bee sidestep, whirl, shake, and go 
thru all sorts of actions. 
THE UNLOADING OF THE POLLEN. 
On their return to the hive with their 
loads of pollen the bees differ widely in 
their behavior. A part walk slowly over 
the combs, while a part, presumably the 
younger bees, appear greatly excited, shak¬ 
ing their bodies and moving their wings. 
A cell may be selected with little hesitation 
or many may be examined before one is 
found satisfactory to the bee. The pollen 
may be stored in an empty cell, or in one 
already partly filled with pollen, either ot 
the same kind or of different kinds; but 
drone comb is seldom used, altho this occa¬ 
sionally happens. 
The way in which the bee unloads the 
masses of pollen has been fully described 
by Casteel. Grasping one edge of the cell 
with its fore legs, it arches its abdomen so 
that its apex rests on the opposite side of 
the cell. The hind legs hang down freely 
in the cell with the pollen masses about 
level with its edge. The planta (metatar¬ 
sus) of the middle leg on each side is then 
raised and thrust downward between the 
pollen mass and the tibia so that the mass 
is shoved outward and falls into the cell. 
The middle legs are now rested on the edge 
of the cell. Casteel was unable to deter¬ 
mine definitely whether the spurs were of 
any aid in dislodging the pollen, as assert¬ 
ed by Cheshire, or not. 
The bee usually departs without any fur¬ 
ther attention to the pollen masses, and 
another worker shortly afterward attends 
to the packing. Entering the cell headfirst, 
the bee breaks up the pellets of pollen, 
mashes them down on the bottom of the 
cell, and adds sugar and perhaps other se¬ 
cretions which change the chemical consti¬ 
tution of the pollen. See Pollen. 
PROPOLIS. HOW GATHERED AND USED. 
Propolis is brought in on the pollen-bas¬ 
kets. When it is gathered fresh from the 
buds, it looks like a glistening bead in the 
pollen-baskets; but when it is gathered 
from old frames, hives, etc., the pellets are 
more irregular. Propolis is always packed 
while the bee is standing, while pollen 
which is packed and carried in the same 
baskets is adjusted while the bee is flying. 
This difference in the way of using the 
same limbs for different materials is very 
interesting. 
Propolis is taken from the legs of the 
field bees and stuck into all sorts of 
places and is moved and reworked as suits 
the vagaries of the bees. Much of the 
propolis is spread with the tongue. Wheth¬ 
er or not the bee varnishes the inside of 
brood-cells with propolis is unknown. Cer¬ 
tainly they spend much time polishing the 
inside of such cells, going over and over 
the surface with their tongues; and when 
they have finished, the cell walls shine as if 
varnished. This is not done to new combs 
used for honey only; but let such be once 
used for brood, then it gets its polishing 
before being used for anything else. 
