488 HABITATIONS OF INSECTS. 



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 clus- 

 ter, the exterior layer of which looks like a kind of cur- 

 tain. This cluster consists of a series of festoons or 

 garlands, which cross each other in all directions, and 

 in which most of the bees turn their back upon the ob- 

 server : the curtain has no other motion than what it 

 receives from the interior layers, the fluctuations 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 forma- 

 tion 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 

 central 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 which it can move itself freely. It then suspends itself 

 to the centre of the space, which it has cleared, the dia- 

 meter of which is about an inch. It next seizes one of 

 the laminae of wax with a pincer formed by the posterior 

 metatarsus and tibia 3 , and drawing it from beneath the 

 abdominal segment, one of the anterior legs takes it with 

 its claws and carries it to the mouth. This leg holds 

 the lamina with its claws vertically, the tongue rolled up 

 serving for a support, and by elevating or depressing it 

 at will, causes the whole of its circumference to be ex- 

 posed to the action of the mandibles, so that the margin 

 is soon gnawed into pieces, which drop as they are de- 

 a Vide Mon. Ap. Ang. t. 12. * * e. 1. neut. fig. 19. 



