Wasps, Bees, and Ants 



527 



sometimes chewed and mixed with some saliva, and carried to the seat of 

 the comb-building operation. Here the wax is pressed against the frame roof 

 (or artificial foundation) and by means of the trowel-like mandibles moulded 

 into the familiar hexagonal cells; each comb being composed of a double 



FIG. 731. 



FIG. 732. 



FIG. 731. Ventral aspect of abdomen of worker honey-bee, showing wax-plates. (Three 



times natural size.) 

 FIG. 732. Wax-plate from ventral aspect of abdomen of honey-bee. (Much enlarged.) 



layer of these cells, a common partition serving as base or bottom of each 

 tier. Although most bee books speak rather glibly of the comb-building 

 operations, it is still undetermined whether the wax-producers leave the cur- 

 tain and carry their own wax to the new comb and help mould it, or whether 



FIG. 733. Honey-bees building comb. (After Benton.) 



the scales are taken away by other (building) workers, or whether they are 

 nipped off with the wax-shears (Fig. 734) of the hind legs, and if so, whether 

 by the wax-maker or a helper or builder, or whether they fall off to the bot- 



