Clifton College Scientific Society. 67 



cells on the opposite side, and the arrangement is not base 

 to base. The bees commence the building of their cells bj 

 making the bases in a plain sheet of wax ; they then j)roceed 

 to raise the sides. Wax when first formed is quite white ; 

 it gradually gets more and more yellow, and when very old 

 it turns blackish. The cells are formed in such a way that 

 the greatest possible space is enclosed by the least possible 

 material. There are but three regular geometrical figures, 

 which will severally form combinations without leaving in- 

 terstices — the square, the equilateral triangle, and the hexa- 

 gon. The body of the bee will not fit into the square without 

 leaving the comers unemployed, much less so in the case of 

 the equilateral triangle ; but, owing to the size of the angle 

 of the hexagon, very little space is left unoccupied in the 

 cells of a honeycomb. The pyramidal base is also well 

 adapted to the tapering form of a bee, and is prevented from 

 slipping away by the three bases of the opposite cells en- 

 closing it. Besides, if the bases were formed by a plain 

 sheet of wax, the capacity of the cells would be much less. 

 The economy of the bee is shown also in the construction of 

 two sets of cells with their bases common to both. The 

 combs are arranged parallel to each other, over the whole 

 breadth of the hive, and generally reaching downwards to the 

 bottom. A slight accident often alters the aiTangement of 

 the combs, and, as the space between each two is uniformly 

 the same, an irregular formation in one comb often alters 

 the whole. There are four different kinds of cells — the cells 

 for the reception of honey, the drone cells, the royal cells, 

 and the cells to contain the eggs which produce workers. 

 The last named are by far the most numerous ; the drone 

 cells are rather longer than these, while the royal are nearly 

 an inch long, and always vertically placed, and pear-shaped. 

 Naturalists differ on the question as to whether honey under- 

 goes any chemical change in the stomach of the bee, but in 

 all probability it does not. Pollen is dust collected from the 

 anthers of flowers, and mixed with honey and water, and it 

 constitutes the food of the young bees ; it is also eaten to a 

 considerable extent by the other bees. It is by means of the 

 pollen that female flowers are fecundated. Bees are ex- 

 tremely sensitive to the variations of temperature ; the genial 

 rays of the midday sun make them far more active in their 

 movements, while the chilling cold of a winter's day quickly 

 makes them insensible, and ultimately kills them. The tem- 

 perature of a hive on a warm day is generally about 90° 

 Fahr. ; the brood cells are kept warmer than this by bees that 



