THE VARNISH MAKERS
Some people think that bees gather only honey and pollen, but there is
another substance which they collect, and this is called “propolis.”
The poplar and pine trees have, as perhaps you know, a resinous kind of
matter covering their new shoots, whilst the horse-chestnut protects
its leaf buds with a similar sticky substance. This the bees gather,
and they draw it off the trees in thin strings, just as sometimes you
see children playing with a piece of sticky toffee, by pulling it into
two pieces. The bees then roll these strings into balls, and pack them
in their pollen baskets, and return to the hive. The other bees help to
unload as soon as the gatherers arrive, for the sticky substance soon
hardens, and must therefore be got out of the pollen baskets as quickly
as possible, and for the same reason it must be used at once. The bees
then knead it with their jaws and mix with it some liquid from their
mouths, until it is quite soft and pliable.
With this preparation, which is really like varnish, the bees coat the
whole of the inside walls if the hive is a new one. Should there be
any cracks in the walls or floor, they are carefully filled up to keep
out the cold and damp. Then again the propolis, in a stronger form, is
used for fastening the combs to the frames, and for any other objects
which the little engineers may think need firmly fixing. When we open
a hive we find that the felts, which cover the combs and keep them
warm, are firmly fastened down to the frames, and sometimes we have to
use considerable force to get them off. The frames holding the combs
are fastened into position, too, with propolis, and a mixture of this
substance and wax is used to cover over the bodies of any intruders
who have entered the hive and have been stung to death. The combs
containing sealed cells of honey are subjected to a coating of very
thin propolis to keep them sweet and clean. Plate XXIV. is a photograph
of a frame of comb just removed from the hive. Towards the top you will
see bees busy capping the honey cells, and others are varnishing them
over with propolis. The cells inside the white lines are pollen cells,
and you may see pollen-pellets in them.
[Illustration: PLATE XXIV
From a photograph by] [E. Hawks
A Frame of Comb, showing Bees at Work storing Honey and Pollen]