of the Nests of Gregarious Hymenoptera. 1 85 



in ventillation at the entrance hole, and many others were busily 

 employed in removing from the floor of the hive a quantity of 

 coarse brown sugar, which I had strewed over it, thinking that in 

 the event of unfavourable weather it would be acceptable to them ; 

 but this was not the case, they were evidently annoyed by its 

 presence, and laboured very hard in removing it from the hive, so 

 that on the following day the ground beneath the alighting board 

 was thickly strewed with little masses of the ejected sugar. At 

 nine o'clock on the following morning, May 29th, having con- 

 stantly watched the swarm during this and the preceding days, I 

 first saw a bee enter with pollen ; thus giving further proof that 

 the combs were in some state of forwardness, and that the queen 

 had probably begun to deposit her eggs in them ; and on the after- 

 noon of the present day I had the satisfaction of observing a 

 large piece of comb suspended from the upper part of the hive, 

 upon which the bees were working very assiduously. In the 

 afternoon of the first of June, exactly four days after the swarm 

 was hived, I observed two large pieces of comb, of the most 

 delicate whiteness, suspended side by side from the middle of the 

 hive, from which the bees were hanging in great clusters. The 

 quantity of comb continued daily to increase, and on the 17th of 

 June, exactly three weeks from the hiving of the swarm, there 

 were five beautiful combs, which nearly filled the interior of the 

 hive. The middle comb was the largest, the two outer ones the 

 smallest, and the others of an intermediate size, between the 

 middle and outer ones. It was thus evident that the formation 

 of comb had commenced in the middle of the hive, in the centre 

 of the clustre, and that the foundation of the combs on each side 

 took place subsequently to that of the middle one. As the combs 

 were constructed at right angles with, and their edges afterwards 

 made to touch, the glass window at the back of the hive, I had 

 an excellent opportunity of observing the progress of the work. 

 Although I have never seen the actual foundation of a comb, 

 owing to the crowding of the bees, I have constantly observed 

 the manner in which new cells are commenced adjoining others 

 which are in the course of formation. Whenever the bees are 

 about to form a new cell, they commence by extending the base 

 or partition between the cells of the two sides of the comb. In 

 doing this I have usually observed a bee at work on each side, 

 one bee extending the base of a new cell on one side of the comb, 

 and another employed in like manner on a portion of that on the 

 opposite side. That portion of the wall of the future cell which 

 is nearest to the comb is then a little elevated, while other bees 



