South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-03-19
The SiSterhOOd of Bees

capable OF not only supporting but
/ suspendinE a weight 60 times as
I great as its own.
Prof Wilcox declared the angle
used In their construction 20 be the
I strongest known 70 science. In fact
these cells are found 20 fulfill per
fectly the most subtle condition Of
an intricate mathematical problem
Let 10 be- required 20 ind what
shape a given quantity % matter
i must take in order TO have the
I greatest capacity and sirens 9Th. oc-
cupying az the came time the least
space and consuming the least labor
. in construction. When this problem
I is solved by the most refined mathe-
maticat processes the answer Is the
I heXagonal or s.x-sided cell OF the
I honey bee"
The raw materials for the CON
struction OF the comb and cells are
\ not gathered by the bee but are
the secretions OF her own jdy.
/ Before a swarm leaves the old
/ hive they gorge themselves with all
! the honey they can carry. That j.
] all they take with them 20 start
house keeping IN their new home.
While I'm this condition they are
b unable 20 bend their abdomen and
4 consequently cannot sting for the
/ time being.
Form Pendant Mass
/ Wherever the queen settles there
will the bees settle to await the re-
turn of the scouts who have pre-
coded the swarm. They will form
themselves in pendant mass usual
+ ly on the branch Of tree near the
+ hive Sometimes the ball is large
enough 20 fn good-sized water
pail. IF they Should escape the
/ eyes Of the owner they may hang
there for an hour and sometimes
for half a day. depending upon the
success Of the scouts in locating a
new home. usually in a hollow tree.
As a rule the bee-kceper is familiar
with their swaCming habit and is
on the lookout. re has memorized
the following dogerel:
a swarm in Ma is worth a load
of hay.
2 a swarm IN June is worth a silver
spoou.
a swarm i'm July isn't worth "a ny
SO. of course. if they are going
10 swarm he wants hem to get
busy early
Wax is most easily generated
under the influence Of heat and this
is found in the center OF the swarm
cluster. Soon as the SCOUTS have
. decided on the new home a great
number of the bees viii have theiG
wax pockets filed and will be ready
for immediate com b-making.
Mr.. Edwardes gives the following
description of the mason" bee.
. The mason-bee hangs quietly In the
+ cluster until her wax secreting or
gans have done their work. and the
six little oblong scales Of brittle ma
terial are ready for manipulation.
These prOtrude from under the hard
plates of her abdomen. three on
each side. At one Of he- knee
joints Of her hind leg she has a
peculiar implement of which there
is not the slightest trace in the
queen bee. This is furnished on
one side with a row of sharp. stiff
bTistles and on the other with a
shallow spoon. With this special
tool the worker-bee grips the wax
scale and draws it out of its pocket.
1t is then transferred TO her jaws,
and she hurries off with il TO the
comb building. Arrived at an un-
finished cell she sets to work 10
chew up the raw wax into a paste,
Incorporating IL With her saliva and
materially increasing its bulk. The
resulting soft ductlle matter is then
applied TO the work and nodded
into its NEEDED shape. In this way,
with hundreds CT workers going and
coming. the delicate white fabric
and honey-cOmb is built up with
Z extraordinary rapidly"
Organisms Ingenious.
Perhaps there is nothing more
wonderful in the whole anatomy Of
the bee than her digestive organism
and its coRtributory system OF
glands. each OF which has its special
and important use. When she draws
up the nectar from the flower. il
passes at once into the first of her
two stomachs which is simply and
solely a reservoir. Here Il can re-
main indefinitely or il car he
poured into the comb-cells to be
brewed into money; or it can be
allowed TO pass through "a valve n
the base of the reservoir into The
bees second and lower stomach
where digestion takes place and the
honey and pollen are formed into
chyle. But by one of the most IN
genious devices in nature. this Sec
ond stomach is also capable OF re-
turning its contents to the mouth
and the chyle IS there changed into
bee milk for the nourishment % the
larvae.
THE worker bee has four distinct
glands. each secreting fluid with
properties different from the other
three These glands are all situated
i'm the mouth. TWO OF them have
a common opening i'm the upper
side Of the root of he tongue ana
as the bee sucks. their com bined
sscretions minSle with the flavor
juices automatically and the first
step i'm the change of the nectar
takes place. The third gland is In
the roof of the mouth and Il is the
secretion Of this gland which acts
on the regurgItated chyle and
changes it into brood food. The
fourth gland Is double. These twin
glands have their openings at the
base Of the jaws and the action OF
chewing Is necessary to excite their