THE BEE. 349 



time they give the new cells but half the depth, which 

 they ought to have, leaving them imperfect till they have 

 sketched out the number of cells necessary for the pre- 

 sent occasion. The construction of their combs costs 

 them a great deal of labor. They are made by insensi- 

 ble additions, and not cast at once in a mould as some are 

 apt to imagine. There seems no end to their shaping, 

 finishing and turning them neatly up. The cells for 

 their young are most carefully formed. Those designed 

 for lodging the drones are lower than the rest, and that 

 for the queen bee the largest of all. The cells in which 

 the young brood are lodged, serve at different times for 

 containing honey ; and this proceeds from an obvious 

 cause : every worm before it is transformed into an aure- 

 lia, hangs its old skin on the partition of its cell, and thus 

 while it stre: gthens the wall diminishes the capacity of its 

 late apartment. The same cell in a single summer is often 

 tenanted by three or four worms in succession, and the 

 next season by three or four more. Each worm takes 

 particular care to fortify the pannelsof its cell by hang- 

 ing up its spoils there. Thus the partitions being lined 

 six or eight deep, become at last too narrow for a new 

 brood, and are converted into store-houses for honey. 

 Those cells, where nothing but honey is deposited, are 

 much deeper than the rest. When the harvest of honey 

 is so plentiful that they have not sufficient room for it, 

 they either lengthen their combs or build more, w i ch 

 are much larger than the former. Sometimes they work 

 at three combs at a time, for when there are three 

 work-houses, more bees may be thus employed without 

 embarrassing each other. 



SWARMING OF BEES. 



The departure of a colony from the parent hive to seek 

 their fortunes and a home for themselves, is a most sin- 

 gular and interesting })henomena. Different opinions 

 have been expressed upon this subject by naturalists, who 

 have paid much attention in investigating the habits of 

 the bee. Early in the spring the front of the hive is 

 often seen for several days, perfectly covered with bees, 



VOL. II. NO. XV. 30 



