BEES IN THE HIVE. 209 
and give them sweet syrup in the late autumn and the 
next early spring when they cannot find any flowers. 
Although the hive has now become comparatively 
quiet and the work goes on without excitement, yet 
every single bee is employed in some way, either out 
of doors or about the hive. Besides the honey col- 
lectors and the nurses, a certain number of bees are 
told off to ventilate the hive. You will easily under- 
stand that where so many insects are packed closely 
together the heat will become very great, and the air 
impure and unwholesome. And the bees have no 
windows that they can open to let in fresh air, so they 
are obliged to fan it in from the one opening of the hive. 
The way in which they do this is very interesting. 
Some of the bees stand close to the entrance, with 
their faces towards it, and opening their wings, so as to 
make them into fans, they wave them to and fro, 
producing a current of air. Behind these bees, and all 
over the floor of the hive, there stand others, this time 
with their backs towards the entrance, and fan in the 
same manner, and in this way air is sent into all the 
passages. 
Another set of bees clean out the cells after the 
young bees are born, and make them fit to receive 
honey, while others guard the entrance of the hive to 
keep away the destructive wax-moth, which tries to lay 
its eggs in the comb so that its young ones may feed 
on the honey. All industrious people have to guard 
their property against thieves and vagabonds, and the 
bees have many intruders, such as wasps and snails 
and slugs, which creep in whenever they get a chance. 
If they succeed in escaping the sentinel bees, then a 
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