HABITATIONS OF INSECTS. 491 



bees, and afterwards transpires through the membrane 

 of the wax-pocket in thin iaminas. The nurse-beesj 

 however, do secrete wax, but in very small quantities. 

 — When wax is not wanted in the hive, the wax-makers 

 disgorge their lioney into the cells. 



The process of building the combs in a bee-hive, as 

 observed by Huber, is as follows : 



The wax-makers having taken a due portion of ho- 

 ney or sugar, from either of wliicli wax can be elabo' 

 rated, suspend themselves to each other, the claws of 

 the fore-legs of the lowermost being attached to those 

 of the hind pair of the uppermost, and form themselves 

 into a cluster, the exterior layer of which looks like a 

 kind of curtain. This cluster consists of a series of 

 festoons or garlands, which cross each other in all di- 

 rections, and in which most of the bees turn their back 

 upon the observer : the curtain has no other motion 

 than Avhat it receives from the interior layers, the fluc- 

 tuations of which are communicated to it. — All this 

 time the nurse-bees preserve their wonted activity and 

 pursue their usual employments. — The wax-makers 

 remain immoveable for about twenty-four hours, during 

 which period the formation of wax takes place, and 

 thin laminae of this material may be generally perceived 

 under their abdomen. One of these bees is now seen 

 to detach itself from one of the centra! garlands of the 

 cluster, to make a way amongst its companions to the 

 middle of the vault or top of the hive, and by turning 

 itself round to form a kind of void, in i^hich it can 

 move itself freely. It then suspends itself to the cen- 

 tre of the space which it has cleared, -the diameter of 

 which is about an inch. It next seizes one of the la- 



