(单词翻译:单击)
Worker bees then take over, secreting wax to build the hive.
工蜂从这一阶段开始接手,它们用蜂蜡建造蜂巢 。
Starting from the top and working down, they build combs–layers of hexagonally shaped cells with passageways along the walls to allow bees to move between combs.
工蜂按照逐层往下的顺序进行建造,从每个蜂房都是六边形的巢基开始 。而蜂房间要留有空隙以便蜜蜂出入 。
Each layer of cells has a specialized purpose.
每个蜂房都有特殊的作用 。
The uppermost cells store honey, followed by pollen-storage cells.
最上面的蜂房是储存蜂蜜的,接下来是用于储存花粉,
The bottom layers are designated for infant-rearing.
下层是育婴室,
Just beneath the pollen cells are brood cells where larvae become worker bees, and off to the side are cells housing drone bee larvae.
再下层是幼虫变成工蜂的孵化室,两侧居住的是雄蜂幼虫 。
Last, but certainly not least, special cells are set aside to shelter infant queen bees.
当然,特殊的蜂房是留给有着尊贵地位的蜂王的 。
A typical nest has about 100,000 cells with a total surface area of about twenty-seven square feet.
标准的蜂巢有100,000个蜂房,连上表层大概有27平方英尺 。
Most of the cells are used to store the more than forty pounds of honey required to feed a bee colony during the winter.
大多数蜂巢会储存40多英镑的蜂蜜,这足以使得整个蜜蜂家族度过整个冬天 。
They may not win any awards, but bees are clearly some of nature's most accomplishedarchitects.
虽然蜜蜂从未摘得任何桂冠,但是它们无疑是大自然最杰出的建造师 。