“The bee enters a flower, plunges6 to the bottom of the corolla a long and flexible trunk, a kind of tongue that laps the sweet liquor. Droplet7 by droplet, drawn8 from this flower and that, the crop is filled. The bee at the same time nibbles9 a few grains of pollen10. Moreover, it proposes to carry a good load of it to the hive. It has special utensils11 for this work: first, the down of its body, then the brushes and baskets that its legs supply. The down and the brushes are used for harvesting; the baskets for carrying.
“First the bee rolls delightedly among the stamens to cover itself with pollen. Then it passes and re-passes over its velvety12 body the extremities13 of its hind14 legs, where is found a square piece bristling15 on the inside with short and rough hairs which serve as a brush. The grains of pollen scattered16 over the down of the insect are thus gathered together into a little pellet, which the intermediary legs seize in order to place it in one or other of the baskets. They call by this name a hollow edged with hair on the outside of the hind legs, a little above the brushes. It is there the pellets of pollen are piled up as fast as the brushes gather them on the powdery down. The load does not fall, because it is held by the hairs that edge the basket; it is also stuck against the bottom. The queen and the drones have not these working implements17. Utensils are useless to those who do not work.”
“The little yellow masses one sees on the hind legs of bees visiting the flowers are loads of pollen contained in the baskets?” asked Jules.
“Exactly. The bee has lapped so much sweet from the corollas, has brushed its pollen-powdered sides so often, that finally the crop is full and the baskets are running over. It is time to go back to the hive, time for a flight made heavy with so much treasure.
“Let us take advantage of the time used in the return journey to inform ourselves about the origin of honey. The bee carries with it a sugary liquor in its crop, two balls of pollen in its baskets; but all that is not yet honey. Real honey the bee prepares with the ingredients that we have just seen it gather; it cooks it, lets it simmer in its crop. Its little stomach is better than a real pot for carrying: it is an admirable alembic, in which the liquid that has been lapped up and the grains of pollen that have been nibbled18 are worked by digestion19 and converted into a delicious marmalade, which is honey. This skilful20 cooking finished, the content of the crop is honey.
“The bee arrives at the hive. If by good fortune the queen-mother is encountered, the workman does reverence21 to her and offers her, from mouth to mouth, a sip22 of honey, the first from its crop. Then it seeks an empty cell, inserts its head into the storeroom, projects its tongue, and spits out the contents of its stomach; and there you have real honey disgorged by the bee.”
“Is it all disgorged?” Emile asked.
“Not all. The crop’s contents are usually divided into three parts: one for the nurses that remain in the hive to do the housework; a second for the little ones still in the nest; a third kept by the bee that has prepared the honey. Must it not have food in order to work well?”
“Then bees feed on honey?”
“Without a doubt. You imagined perhaps that bees made honey expressly for man. Undeceive yourself: bees make honey for themselves and not for us. We plunder23 their riches.”
“What becomes of the little balls of pollen?” inquired Jules.
“The pollen enters into the making of honey, and serves as nourishment24 for the bees. The working bee, on its return from harvesting, puts its hind legs into a cell where there is neither larva nor honey, and with the end of its middle legs it detaches the pellets and pushes them to the bottom. In repeating its trips it ends by filling both the cell in which the honey is disgorged and that in which the pollen is stored. The nurses draw on these provisions when they go from cell to cell, distributing small portions to the little ones; thence also they get their own food; in fact, the whole population finds its resources there when bad weather comes.
“Flowers do not last all the year, and, moreover, there are days of rest, rainy days when the bees cannot go out. It is necessary, therefore, to have pollen and honey in reserve, and to have a good supply. So, when flowers are plenty and the harvest exceeds immediate25 requirements, the workers gather honey and pollen untiringly and store it in cells, which they close, as soon as full, with a cover of wax.
“These are reserve supplies, safeguards for the future in case of scarcity26. The wax cover is religiously respected; it would be a state crime to touch it prematurely27. In time of want the seals are removed and each one draws from the open comb, but with restraint and sobriety. The comb exhausted28, they break the seals of another.”
“How are young bees fed?” was Jules’s next question.
“When the cells destined29 to serve as nests are prepared in sufficient number by the wax-bees, the queen-mother goes from one to another, dragging with much effort her fruitful womb. The nurses form a respectful retinue30. One egg, one only, is laid in each cell. In a few days—from three to six—there comes from this egg a larva, a little white worm, without legs, bent31 like a comma. Now begins the nurses’ delicate work.
“They must every day, and several times a day, distribute nourishment to the little worms, not honey or pollen in its natural state, but a preparation of increasing strength such as delicate stomachs need at first. It is, in the beginning, a liquid paste, almost tasteless; then something sweeter; and finally pure honey, nourishment at its full strength. Do we offer a slice of beef to a crying baby? No, but milk first and then pap. Bees do the same: they have honey, strong food, for the strong; and weaker nourishment, tasteless pap, for the weak. How do they prepare these more or less substantial foods? It would be hard to say. Perhaps they mix pollen and honey in different proportions.
“In six days the larv?, called brood-comb, have attained32 their development. Then, like the larv? of other insects, they retire from the world to undergo metamorphosis. In order to protect its suffering flesh at the critical moment of its transfiguration, each larva lines the inside of its cell with silk, and the working-bees close the cell with a cover of wax. In the silk-lined case the skin is cast off and the passage to the state of nymph accomplished33. Twelve days later the nymph awakes from the deep sleep of the second birth; it shakes itself, tears its narrow swaddling-clothes, and comes forth34 a bee. The wax cover is gnawed35 by the inclosed insect as well as by the working-bees lending a ready hand to the resuscitated36; and the hive counts one more citizen. The new-born bee makes its toilet a little, dries its wings, polishes its body, and is off to work. It knows its trade without having had to learn it: wax-bee in its youth, nurse in its old age.”
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1
diligent
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| adj.勤勉的，勤奋的 | |
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2
oozes
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的第三人称单数 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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3
entice
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| v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿 | |
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stigma
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| n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头 | |
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5
pitcher
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| n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手 | |
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6
plunges
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| n.跳进，投入vt.使投入，使插入，使陷入vi.投入，跳进，陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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7
droplet
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| n.小滴，飞沫 | |
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8
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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9
nibbles
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| vt.& vi.啃，一点一点地咬（nibble的第三人称单数形式） | |
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10
pollen
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| n.[植]花粉 | |
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11
utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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12
velvety
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| adj. 像天鹅绒的, 轻软光滑的, 柔软的 | |
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13
extremities
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| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
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14
hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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15
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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16
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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17
implements
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| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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18
nibbled
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| v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的过去式和过去分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬 | |
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19
digestion
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| n.消化，吸收 | |
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20
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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21
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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22
sip
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| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
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23
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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24
nourishment
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| n.食物，营养品；营养情况 | |
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25
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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26
scarcity
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| n.缺乏，不足，萧条 | |
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27
prematurely
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| adv.过早地，贸然地 | |
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28
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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29
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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30
retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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31
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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32
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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33
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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34
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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35
gnawed
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| 咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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36
resuscitated
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| v.使（某人或某物）恢复知觉，苏醒( resuscitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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