146 LIFE IN THE INSECT WORLD. 



animation of the habits of these curious little 

 insects. 



He put a swarm of bees, and a basin contain- 

 ing syrup of sugar, into a large bell-shaped 

 glass, in the top of which he had glued several 

 pieces of wood, knowing that the glass would 

 be too smooth for the bees to cling to. 



As no young ones had been placed in the 

 glass, and the nurse bees had nothing to do at 

 home, they went out in search of food ; but the 

 wax-workers crowded around the edge of the 

 basin, and having filled themselves with the 

 syrup, two of them crawled up the side of the 

 glass and clung by their fore feet to the wooden 

 strips with their bodies hanging downward. 

 Two others then mounted, clinging with their 

 fore feet to the hind legs of the first. Many 

 others followed their example until they formed 

 a sort of festoon or curtain. In this state they 

 remained perfectly motionless for about fifteen 

 hours, and toward the latter part of the time 

 the scales of wax might be seen projecting from 

 under the rings of their bodies, making them 

 look as if edged with white. At length one of 

 them separated itself from the rest, and selecting 



