Hive- Bees. 149 



leaning against another comb so as to prevent the passage 

 of the bees between them. This accident excited great 

 activity in the colony ; but its nature could not be ascer- 

 tained at the time. At the end of a week, the weather 

 being cold, and the bees clustered together Mr. Walond 

 observed, through the window of the box, that they had 

 constructed two horizontal pillars betwixt the combs alluded 

 to, and had removed so much of the honey and wax from 

 the top of each as to allow the passage of a bee : in about 

 ten days more there was an uninterrupted thoroughfare ; the 

 detached comb at its upper part had been secured by a 

 strong barrier, and fastened to the window with the spare 

 wax. This being accomplished, the bees removed the hori- 

 zontal pillars first constructed, as being of no further use."* 



A similar anecdote is told by M. Huber. " During the 

 winter," says he, "a comb in one of my bell-glass hives, 

 having been originally insecure, fell down, but preserved its 

 position parallel to the rest. The bees were unable to fill 

 up the vacuity left above it, because they do not build combs 

 of old wax, and none new could be then obtained. At a 

 more favourable season they would have engrafted a new 

 comb on the old one ; but now their provision of honey could 

 not be spared for the elaboration of this substance, which 

 induced them to insure the stability of the comb by another 

 process. 



" Crowds of bees taking wax from the lower part of other 

 combs, and even gnawing it from the surface of the orifices 

 of the deepest cells, they constructed so many irregular 

 pillars, joists, or buttresses, between the sides of the fallen 

 comb, and others on the glass of the hive. All these were 

 artificially adapted to localities. Neither did they confine 

 themselves to repairing the accidents which their works had 

 sustained. They seemed to profit by the warning to guard 

 against a similar casualty. 



" The remaining combs were not displaced ; therefore, 

 while solidly adhering by the base, we were greatly surprised 

 to see the bees strengthen their principal fixtures with old 

 * Ik- van on Bees, p. 326. 



