82 ANIMALS AND INSECTS 



cities we are always putting up new houses. Now 

 how do you suppose the bees get the wax with which 

 they build up this city of theirs? 



Why, they make it themselves and in a most 

 marvelous way! Certain of the bees seem to know 

 that it is their business to furnish wax. They begin 

 their work by a feast of honey and then hang them- 

 selves up for a day and a night in a close, heavy 

 bunch at the top of the hive. They must have 

 eaten just so much honey, and they must be just so 

 warm before the wax can be made. Patiently they 

 wait for the scales of beautiful, white wax to grow. 

 It seems almost like magic, but after about twenty- 

 four hours tiny scales of shining white wax begin 

 to slip out of the four little wax pockets on the under- 

 side of the bees' bodies. Then suddenly one of the 

 bees will seem to wake up and she will leave the 

 rest and hurry up to the roof of the hive. There 

 she will very carefully fasten her bits of wax after 

 she has chewed them and moulded them and snipped 

 them to suit her fancy. Others will follow her, and 

 they will begin to build the waxen comb. 



If only you could see the bees building their 

 wonderful cells! One bee goes and gets the wax 

 and, placing it where the cell is to be, runs away for 

 more. Another trims it with the nippers on her legs, 

 twists it into place, and goes off for another piece. 

 Bee number three hurries up, gives it another poke 

 and, twist and hurries off while bee number four 

 tries her skill. 



How do they know how to build those tiny flakes 

 of wax into the beautiful and regular cells? How 



