. The study of animal life [microform]. Zoology; Zoologie. CHAP. V Social Life of Animals 77 We have not outlined nearly all the labours of the workers. There is the exhausting though passive labour of forming the wax which oozes out on the under-surface of the body, and then there is the marvellous comb-building, at which the bees are very neat and clever workers, though they do not deserve the reputation for mathematical insight once granted them. "Their combs," Mr. Cheshire says, "are rows of rooms unsurpassably suitable for feeding and nurtur- ing the larvae, for giving safe
. The study of animal life [microform]. Zoology; Zoologie. CHAP. V Social Life of Animals 77 We have not outlined nearly all the labours of the workers. There is the exhausting though passive labour of forming the wax which oozes out on the under-surface of the body, and then there is the marvellous comb-building, at which the bees are very neat and clever workers, though they do not deserve the reputation for mathematical insight once granted them. "Their combs," Mr. Cheshire says, "are rows of rooms unsurpassably suitable for feeding and nurtur- ing the larvae, for giving safety and seclusion during the mystic sleep of pupa-hood, for ensconcing the weary worker seeking rest, and for safely warehousing the provisions ever needed by the numerous family and by all during the winter's siege. Corridors run between, giving sufficient space for the more extensive quarters of the prospective mother, and affording every facility to the busy throng walking on the ladders the edges of their apartments supply ; while the exactions of modern hygiene are fully met by air, in its native purity, sweeping past the doorway of every inhabitant of the insect ; We shall not seek to penetrate into the more hidden mysteries of the life of bees ; for instance, " how the drones have a mother but no father," or how high feeding makes the difference between a queen and a worker. An outline of the yearly life is more appropriate. From the v/inter's rest the surviving bees reawaken when the early-flowering trees begin to blossom ; the workers engage in a *' spring cleaning," and the queen restores the reduced population by egg-laying. New supplies of food are brought in, new bees are bom, and in early summer we see the busy life in all its energy. The pressure of increased population makes itself felt, and migration or " swarming " becomes impera- tive. In due time and in fair weather " the old mother departs with the superabundance of th
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1902
