As the Honey Bee visits flower after flower she collects pollen as well as nectar. The pollen is largely picked up by the hairy coat, then brushed off by the feet and pressed into the “pollen basket” on the thigh of the hind leg.
HOW A BEE HOUSEHOLD
IS ORGANIZED
Thus the ordinary hive contains (1) a single queen-bee—the fertile female and mother of the next brood, (2) the males or drones, and (3) the vast majority of workers or imperfectly developed females, which only exceptionally become fertile. The working bees constitute essentially the bee community; they are recognized [262] by their small size, reddish-brown color, and, above all, by the palettes and brushes with which the hind legs are furnished.
The males, or drones, are larger and more hairy than the working bees; they emit a buzzing sound, have no palettes, and no sting. The female, or queen, has a longer body than the workers, and the wings shorter in proportion. The only part she has to play is that of laying eggs, and so she has no palettes or brushes. Only one queen lives in each hive, of which she is perfect sovereign, all the workers submissively obeying her. The number of males is scarcely one-tenth that of the working bees, and they live only about three months.
WHAT THE SWARMING
OF BEES MEANS
At a certain time of the year the queen leaves the hive, accompanied by the drones, and takes what is called her “nuptial flight” through the air. About forty-eight hours after her return to the hive she begins laying her eggs, at the rate of about two hundred a day. The eggs which are destined to develop into workers are first laid, then those which are to produce males, and lastly those which give birth to females. The eggs are not long in being hatched, and the larvæ, or caterpillars, which emerge from them are tended by the workers, and fed by them on a peculiar paste, which is apparently a preparation of pollen. In five or six days the larvæ pass into the condition of pupa, or chrysalis, and in about seven or eight days after this the perfect insect is hatched.
A pound weight of bees contain about five thousand individuals, and swarms are often found to weigh eight pounds, or even more. A populous hive will thus contain from forty to fifty thousand bees. In spring, however, the number is much smaller, amounting to only a few thousand.
THE STRUCTURE OF
HONEY-BEES
Many of the points in the structure of the honey-bee fit it for the performance of its complex activities. Upon the head there are two large compound eyes, used for near vision, and three small simple eyes, by which objects at a distance can be perceived. There is a well-developed sense of color, and flowers which specially lay themselves out to attract bees are mostly of blue or purple hue. Bees have also a keen sense of smell, which not only attracts them to fragrant flowers, but also helps them to detect the presence of nectar.