第14章 The Bee 蜜蜂

Bees live in a house that is called a hive. They are of three kinds,—workers, drones, and queens.

Only one queen can live in each hive. If she is lost or dead, the other bees will stop their work.

They are very wise and busy little creatures. They all join together to build cells of wax for their honey.

Each bee takes its proper place, and does its own work. Some go out and gather honey from the flowers; others stay at home and work inside the hive.

The cells which they build, are all of one shape and size, and no room is left between them.

The cells are not round, but have six sides.

Did you ever look into a glass hive to see the bees while at work? It is pleasant to see how busy they always are.

But the drones do not work. Before winter comes, all the drones are driven from the hive or killed, that they may not eat the honey which they did not gather.

It is not quite safe for children to handle bees. They have sharp stings that they know well how to use in their defense.

蜜蜂住的房间就是所谓的蜂房。蜜蜂的分工为三种：工蜂，雄蜂和蜂后。

只有唯一的蜂后会有自己独立的蜂房。如果它消失或者死亡了，其它的蜜蜂就会停止工作。

蜜蜂是种非常聪明和忙碌的小生物。为了酿造蜂蜜他们会一起合作建造他们蜂巢的巢室或者蜂蜡。

每个蜜蜂都会有自己合适的位置，做自己相关的工作。有些蜜蜂负责飞出去，从花朵上采集蜂蜜；其它的蜜蜂会呆在家里，在蜂房里工作。

它们建造的所有巢室都是同种类型、同样大小，并且巢室之间不会留出空隙。

蜂巢巢室不是圆的，但是会有六个边。

你曾经在玻璃蜂房里看到过蜜蜂工作吗? 看着它们一直忙忙碌碌的样子，你会感到很欣喜。

但是雄蜂是不工作的。在冬天来临之前，所有的雄蜂会被赶出蜂房或者被杀掉，或许它们都吃不到不是由它们采集来的蜂蜜。

对于孩子们来说，玩弄蜜蜂是很危险的事情。它们有锋利的刺，而且完全知道在防御的时候如何运用它们。