This bee will be followed by
another, and another, till a large wall of wax has been built,
hanging from the bar of the hive as in Fig. 55, only that it
will not yet have cells fashioned in it.
Meanwhile the bees which have been gathering honey out of doors
begin to come back laden. But they cannot store their honey, for
there are no cells made yet to put it in; neither can
they build combs with the rest, for they have no wax in their
wax-pockets. So they just go and hang quietly on to the other
bees, and there they remain for twenty-four hours, during which
time they digest the honey they have gathered, and part of it
forms wax and oozes out from the scales under their body. Then
they are prepared to join the others at work and plaster wax on
to the hive.
Week 26
And now, as soon as a rough lump of wax is ready, another set of
bees come to do their work. These are called the nursing bees,
because they prepare the cells and feed the young ones. One of
these bees, standing on the roof of the hive, begins to force
her head into the wax, biting with her jaws and moving her head
to and fro.
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