46 NATURAL HISTORY. [CH. III. 



says Huber, " honey had been placed in a window, 

 where the bees resorted to it in multitudes. It was 

 removed, and the shutters closed during winter; 

 but when opened again on the return of spring, the 

 bees came back, though no honey remained: un- 

 doubtedly they remembered it; therefore, an in- 

 terval of several weeks did not obliterate the im- 

 pression they had received.!' 



CHAPTER III. 



THE HIVE BEE. 



Interior Arrangements of a Bee-hive — Structure of a Comb— Form of 

 the Cells — Worker-Bees— Collection of Honey— Elaboration of Wax 

 — Bee-bread — Cleanliness of Bees. 



The reader must now be introduced to the interior 

 of the hive, and made acquainted with the archi- 

 tecture of these insects. In order to observe the 

 habits of this insect-world, the best plan is either to 

 have several glass hives, or overturn some com- 

 mon ones, that a comparative view may be taken 

 of the works carrying on in the interior. 



" It is absolutely necessary," says Reaumur, 

 " that more than one hive should be thus exposed ; 

 for then we shall see the disposition of the combs 

 to be various in the different ones. They are not 

 restricted to a uniform mode of constructing their 

 cells, but accommodate the structure to circum- 

 stances." 



The combs do not touch each other, but are sepa- 

 rated by intervals sufficiently wide to permit the 

 bees to work at the surface of each contiguous 

 comb, and approach any cell without quite touching 

 each other — besides these highways, the little city 



