84 BRANCH ARTHROPODA. 



Compilers of this treatise furnished to Prof. Jeffries 

 Wyman, of Harvard University, numerous specimens of 

 comb from his apiary, who proved the fallacy of the old 

 theory, that the cells are exactly hexagonal all being- 

 more or less imperfect as mathematical hexagons. 



The quality of the honey and wax depends greatly 

 upon the character of the food furnished ; and cultivators 

 of bees are accustomed to critically examine the nature 

 of the plants in the region in which they wish to locate. 



According to Prof. A. S. Packard, as stated in his 

 "Guide to the Study of Insects," Ichneumon-flies do not 

 attack the larva of the Honey-bee ; but adult bees, do- 

 mesticated and wild, are infested by a variety of para- 

 sites, demanding the careful study of the Apiarian. 

 There is also a wax-moth, that is very harmful from 

 consuming the wax, and weaving their webs to the in- 

 convenience of the bees in passing to and fro amid the 

 sheets of comb. The use of improved hives and constant 

 watchfulness is the only preventive against their ravages. 



