[Illustration: A LIVE BEE-HAT.]
[Illustration: A FRAME OF BEES, SHOWING ONE WAY OF HOLDING AN UNSPACED
FRAME.]
How Do Bees Build the Honey Comb?
In the hands of a bee-keeper the departing swarm will be put into
another hive provided he wishes to increase the number of his colonies;
but in a state of nature the swarm will find an old hollow tree or
some similar place in which to establish itself. The bees, before
leaving their old hive, fill themselves with honey until the abdomen
is greatly distended, and for this reason it is not necessary for them
to collect nectar for a day or two, for they have other work to do.
Some of the bees begin to clean out the new quarters and get it fit for
occupancy; but most of them begin the construction of new combs. To
do this they suspend themselves in curtains from the top of the hive,
and remain motionless for some time. The wax used in building comb is
secreted by the workers in eight small pockets on the lower side of the
abdomen while they thus hang in curtains. Finally, after enough wax has
been formed, they begin to build. The small flakes of wax are passed
forward to the mouth, there mixed with a salivary secretion to make the
wax pliable, and then are placed on the top of the hive by the first
comb-builders. Other workers then come and place their small burdens of
wax on those first deposited, and this continues until the combs are
finished. There is more to comb-building than the mere sticking on of
wax plates, however, and nothing in all bee instincts is more wonderful
than the beautiful plan on which they build the comb. The cells are
hexagonal in shape, so that each cell in the center of the comb is
surrounded by six others. Nor is this the only remarkable thing in
their architecture, for each comb is composed of a double row of cells,
the base of each cell being formed of three parts, each one of which is
likewise a part of a separate cell of the other side of the comb. By
this method the bees obtain the greatest possible capacity for their
cells, with the least expenditure of wax. The accuracy of the cells of
the comb has in all ages been an object of admiration of naturalists
and bee-keepers.
As soon as there are some cells constructed, and even before the cells
are entirely completed, the queen begins to lay eggs, and the workers
begin to collect the stores of honey and pollen. They also collect in
considerable quantity a waxy substance from various trees, commonly
called propolis, with which they seal the inside of the hive, closing
up all openings except the one which serves as the entrance.
[Illustration: HOW THE HONEY BEE DEFENDS HIMSELF