So, the first fine day, we walked to a neighboring village, and found the bee-master, as he was called, very glad to show us his little pets. He first led us to a hive made wholly of glass, so that we might watch the bees at their labors.
He told us there were three kinds of bees; and in the picture you may see how they look, both when flying and when at rest. Those marked A are queen-bees; B are the male bees, or drones; and C the working-bees.
The most important bee in the hive is naturally the queen. She is longer and sleeker than the others, and has a crooked sting, of which, however, she seldom makes use. Similar in form, but smaller, are the working-bees, whose sting is straight. The male bee, or drone, is thicker than the others, and stingless.
"What has the queen to do in the hive?" I asked. The old gentleman replied, "She is the mother-bee, lays all the eggs, and is so diligent that she often lays twelve hundred in a day, having a separate cell for each egg. That is her only work; for she leaves the whole care of her children to the industrious working-bees, who have various labors to perform. Some of them build cells of wax; others bring in honey on the dust of flowers, called pollen; yet others feed and take care of the young; and a small number act as body-guard to the queen."
The bee-master next took us to a strange-looking old hive, and asked us what it was like. I said, "The trunk of a tree." He told me I was right, and that the wild bees still dwell in hollow trees.
He then showed us various kinds of hives, and, last of all, a glass globe, in which the bees had built a beautiful white comb in the form of a star, and filled it with honey. This he was to send as a wedding-present to a bride.
He said, "The bees can make of any egg, either a queen or a working bee, according to the food and treatment they give it. The queen requires but sixteen days in which to come to maturity; while the workers require twenty, and the drones twenty-four. When several queens appear at the same time, they fight until one gains the victory."
Honey is the nectar of flowers, which they collect with their tongues, place in their honey-bags, and deposit in cells built for the purpose, which, when filled, they cover with wax.