Part 78

The bee’s sting is given him as a weapon of defence. Primarily it is for the sole purpose of enabling him to help defend the hive from his enemies. Sometimes when he is attacked away from the hive he uses his sting to defend himself. When he does so, he injects a little quantity of poison through the sting and that is what causes the inflammation.

How Does a Honey Bee Live?

The bee lives in swarms of from 10,000 to 50,000 in one house. In the wild state the house or hive is located in a hollow tree generally. These swarms contain three classes of bees, the perfect females or queen bees, the males or drones, and the imperfectly developed females, or working bees. In each hive or swarm there is only one perfect female or queen whose sole mission is to propagate the species. The queen is much larger than the other bees. When she dies a young working bee three days old is selected as the new queen. Her cell is enlarged by breaking down the partitions, her food is changed to “royal jelly or paste” and she grows into a queen bee. The queen lays 2,000 eggs per day. The drones do not work and after performing their duty as males are killed by the working bees. The female bees do the work of gathering the honey. They collect the honey from the flowers, they build the wax cells, and feed the young bees. When a colony becomes overstocked, a new colony is sent out to establish a new hive under the direction of a queen bee.

THE BEGINNING OF A STEAMSHIP

This picture shows the first work in building a modern steamer, laying the keel and center plate, upon which the massive hull is constructed. The rivets are driven by hydraulic power, noiselessly but firmly. In the new “Britannic”--largest of all British steamers and the newest (1915) modern leviathan--over 270 tons of rivets--nearly three million in all--were required to give staunchness to the steel-plated hull. The cellular double bottom is constructed between the bottom and top of the center plate.]

VIEW NEAR THE BOW.

The “ribs” of the “Britannic,” showing the deck divisions, in outline. The huge “gantry” or cradle of steel, in which “Britannic” was built, cost $1,000,000.]

THE “BRITANNIC” OF THE WHITE STAR LINE. VIEW OF THE DOUBLE BOTTOM PLATED.]

The plates are seen piled in the foreground. The largest of them are 36 feet long and weigh 4¹⁄₄ tons each.]

NOT A “SKYSCRAPER,” BUT A FLOATING HOTEL IN PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTION.

THE HULL ITSELF IS 64′ 3″ DEEP, AND FROM THE KEEL TO THE TOP OF THE FUNNELS IS 175 FEET. THE NAVIGATING BRIDGE IS 104′ 6″ ABOVE THE KEEL.]

WHITE STAR ROYAL MAIL STEAMER “BRITANNIC”

READY TO LAUNCH.

The “Britannic” on the ways at Belfast (Harland & Wolff’s). The largest gantries ever constructed to hold a ship.]

FORWARD LAUNCHING GEAR (HYDRAULIC).

The ship went from the ways into the water in 62 seconds and was stopped in twice her own length.]

“BRITANNIC” HELD UP JUST AFTER THE LAUNCH.]

THE COMPLETED SHIP

The center (the turbine) propeller, 16′ 6″ in diameter, cast of one solid piece of manganese bronze, 22 tons in weight. The “Britannic” like “Olympic,” is propelled by two sets of reciprocating engines, the exhaust steam from these being reused in the low-pressure turbine, effecting great economy in coal. The two “wing” propellers are 23′ 6″ in diameter and weigh 38 tons each.]

The turbine motor, 130 tons in weight (Parsons type). The steam plays upon the blades with such power that they develop 16,000 horse-power and revolve the propeller (turbine) 165 times a minute. The motor is 12 feet in diameter, 13′ 8″ long, the blades (numbering thousands) ranging from 18 to 25¹⁄₂ inches in length.]

One of the four immense funnels--without the outer casing. Each is 125 feet above the hull of the ship and measures 24′ 6″ by 19′ 0″.]

This view will give some idea of the interior arrangement of the huge White Star Line triple-screw steamer “Britannic.” Many features undreamed of a dozen years ago have been introduced in the passenger quarters of this ship. As many decks are necessary to provide the required space for state-rooms, public apartments, promenades, etc., several passenger elevators have been installed, which are a great convenience for those who find the use of stairs irksome. There is a fully equipped Gymnasium, a children’s Play Room for the younger passengers, a Squash Racquet Court, a Swimming Pool with sea-water, and the Turkish Bath establishment.

There are accommodations for over 2500 passengers as well as a crew of 950. The view shows how the ship is divided into numerous water-tight compartments, so that should several of these sections become flooded the rest of the ship would remain intact.

The lifeboats, of which there are sufficient to carry all on board, are handled by a new device, by means of which the boats can be launched, when filled, with greater ease and safety than hitherto. Each of the great davits can handle several boats and they are long enough to carry the boats clear of the side of the ship, should any accident cause her to list to one side.

The “Britannic” is nearly 900 feet in length, and with her gross tonnage of 50,000 is the largest British steamer in the world.

What Is Water Made Of?

Every kind of substance in the world is made up of tiny portions, each of which is distinctly just what the whole mass is, but which are so small you cannot see them. A pile of sand, or a cupful of sugar or salt consists of a great many small grains. A cup of water too is made up of what we would call small grains of water, or what we would call grains of water if we could think of them in the same way as we do sugar or salt or sand. These particles are so small that they could not be seen separately, even if the particles did not have the ability to stick so close together that we could not distinguish them even if they were large enough to be seen.

The word used in describing these tiny particles in any substance, water, sugar, sand, salt or anything else is molecule.