66 NATURAL HISTORY. [CH. HI 



eveiy day it acquires a firmer consistence ; until at 

 length it assumes a brown colour, and becomes much 

 harder than wax. 



When the foundations of the combs are laid, the 

 first row of cells differs from the succeeding- ones in 

 that it is composed of five instead of six sides : the 

 fifth or broadest being the side or base by which the 

 comb was suspended from the roof of the hive. As 

 long as the cells are but few in number, and not over- 

 loaded with honey, this pentagonal row is sufficiently 

 strong to support the comb ; but when the wants of 

 the hive render it necessary to construct more cells 

 and increase the stock of honey, their instinct in- 

 forms the bees, that the foundations of the comb are 

 not sufficiently strong to support the increased 

 weight. Accordingly, they are seen, in a sort of 

 fury, to fall upon and destroy the pentagonal cells, 

 and for the wax with which they were originally con- 

 structed, to substitute a composition of propolis and 

 wax. This substance was, by the ancients, termed 

 pissoceros. The tenacity and strength of this mate- 

 rial render the foundations of the combs perfectly 

 secure, and relieve the bees from all subsequent anx- 

 iety on that account. The ingenuity evinced by the 

 bees in the performance of this task is no less worthy 

 of admiration than the sagacity which enables 

 them to find out its necessity. It is evident that, if 

 the first row of cells were removed at once, the comb 

 itself would fall; since it is attached to tlie roof 

 of the hive by means of this row. In order to guard 

 against this danger, the bees work at alternate sides 

 of the comb ; they remove first one portion of the 

 old comb, substituting for the brittle wax the strong 

 and tenacious cement called pissoceros, before they 

 touch the other. 



Among other virtues possessed by bees, cleanli- 

 ness is one of the most marked ; they will not suf- 

 fer the least filth in their abode. It sometimes hap- 

 pens that an ill-advised slug or ignorant snail chooses 



