QQ Transactions of the 



treacle, sugar, or old pieces of honeycomb are introduced 

 into tlie hive. The beginning of winter puts an end to the 

 bees' yearly labours, and from this time till the beginning of 

 spring they remain in a state of torpor. Sometimes, when 

 the sun shines brightly on the snow, the bees are induced to 

 leave the hive, but in such a case they seldom return, being 

 frozen to death before long. The warm bright rays of early 

 spring bring back the bees to the blossoming fields, and by 

 the middle of May the colony is generally sufficiently flourish- 

 ing to send off its first swarm. Immediately on taking 

 possession of a hive, the bees coat it over with a substance 

 called propolis. This is a resinous substance, of a peculiar, 

 though not disagreeable, smell, which appears, from an ex- 

 periment made by Hiiber, to be principally derived from such 

 trees as the wild poplar, though some have stated that it is 

 the exudation of pine trees ; others, that it is given off from 

 certain vegetables. Be that as it may, the use to which the 

 substance is applied is evident. The bees enter the hive 

 with the propolis adhering to their legs, and are eased of 

 their load by other bees, who remove it with their jaws. 

 Every nook and corner is coated over with it, and likewise 

 anything that is in the way — as, for insta.nce, a snail. The 

 next work that is commenced is the construction of comb for 

 the reception of eggs. Wax is used for this purpose, which 

 is produced by secretion. A number of bees fill their crops 

 with honey, and hang themselves on to each other ; the wax 

 is presently given off from under the abdominal scales, and 

 is removed through the assistance of other bees. Honey- 

 comb consists of a number of hexagonal cells, opening on 

 each side of the comb. For the benefit of mathematicians, 

 I will quote a definition of a cell found in an Encyclopsedia. 

 ' The geometric form of each individual cell is a hexagonal 

 prism, terminated by a trihedral pyramid, the three sides of 

 which pyramid are rhombs, which meet at the apex of their 

 obtuse angles, and forming oblique angles with the sides of 

 the prism ; truncate a portion of these, and convert them 

 from rectangles, which they would be in a regular prism, 

 into trapeziums.' I will now try to explain more simply the 

 form of a honeycomb, and the geometrical regularity of its 

 cells ; but no description can be fully realised without the 

 examination of the material itself. Each piece of comb is 

 comxjosed of two collections of cells, with their bases to- 

 wards each other. Each of the interior cells is a hexagon, 

 while the cells of the outside row are irregular pentagons. 

 The base of each cell coincides with the centres of three 



