110 ARCHITECTURE OF BEES. 



sures. They first form a ring of wax around the 

 inside of the mouth of the cell ; to this first ring, ad- 

 ditional ones are applied as the increased deposit of 

 honey renders necessary, till at last the opening is 

 completely sealed up hy a succession of concentric 

 rings. Besides the cells of workers and males, we 

 find, during the swarming season, other cells, to the 

 number of six, eight, ten, or twelve, differing alto- 

 gether from those first mentioned. These are the 

 royal cells, the cradles of the infant queens. (PL VI. 

 fig. 1, e, .) They are found always on the edges of 

 the combs, of such particularly as extend but half- 

 way across the interior. These cells are constructed 

 not entirely of wax, Mr. Hunter thinks, but of a 

 mixture of that substance with farina. Their position 

 is almost vertical, and somewhat resembling a hang- 

 ing acorn ; their dimensions about one inch in length, 

 and 3J lines in diameter. " Their oblong cylindri- 

 cal form, smoothly polished within, and covered ex- 

 ternally with a kind of fret- work, gives them the re- 

 semblance of a suspended stalactite, and announces 

 a particular destination. In fact, the imposing ap- 

 pearance of this cradle, and the profusion of materials 

 expended on it, which is such, that one of them out- 

 weighs 100 common cells, point it out as destined 

 for receiving and rearing the most important person- 

 age of the colony the mother and queen." * 



In the architectural operations of bees, the modus 

 operandi has been minutely detailed in the writings of 

 Huber. His observations and experiments on this 

 * Feburier, Traite des Abeilles. 



