344 
EJifi. 
probably been bred in twenty times, or more, 
when soaked so as to make the excrement swell, I 
have seen the bottom of the last lining rise even 
with the mouth, or top of the cell, so that the 
cavity of the cell was now full : in others, I have 
seen it rise higher than the mouth, so that the last 
formed layers were almost inverted, and turned 
inside out. A piece of such comb, consisting of 
two rows of cells,' is to be considered as a moidd, 
and the lining of silk and the excrement as the 
cast; when this is boiled, so as either to extract 
all the wax or mould, or to destroy its original 
regular formation which constituted the comb, 
and nothing is left but the cells of silk, &:c. they 
all easily separate from each other, being only so 
many casts, with the mould destroyed; and the 
bottoms, w hich were indented into each other, are 
very perfect. 
“ Fi'om the above account we must see that the 
combs of a hive can only last a certain number of 
years; however, to make them last longer, the 
bees often add a little to the mouth of the cell, 
which is seldom done with wax alone, but with a 
mixture; and they sometimes cover the silk lining 
of the last chrysalis; but all this makes such cells 
clumsy, in comparison to the original ones.” 
The Apis ceutioicu/aris or (larpcuter-Bce is re- 
markable for its faculty of forming long, tubular, 
and slightly Ilexuose cavities in wood, even of the 
most solid kind, as oak, &c. Sometimes it per- 
forms this oj)eration in living trees, and some- 
times in dry wood, posts, &e. The tubular cavi- 
