BEE. 427 



have done so ; but are often adapted to the situation, or shape of 

 the cavify in which they are built. The bees do not endeavour to 

 shape their cavity' to their work, as the wasps do, nor are the cells 

 of equal depths, also fitting them to their situation; but as the 

 breeding cells must all be of a given dnpth, they reserve a sufficient 

 number for breeding in, and they put the honey into the others, as 

 also into the shallow ones. The attachment of the comb round 

 the cavity is not continued, but interrupted, so as to form pas- 

 sages ; there are also passages in the middle of the plates, especi- 

 ally if there be a cross stick to support the comb; these allow of 

 bees to go across from plate to plate. The substance which they 

 use for attaching their combs to surrounding parts is not the same 

 as the common wax; it is softer and tougher, a good deal like the 

 substance with which they cover in their chrysalis, or the humble 

 bee surrounds her eggs. It is pro' ably a mixture of wax with fa- 

 rina. The cells are placed nearly horizontally, but not exactly 

 so; the mouth raises a little, which probably may be to retain the 

 honey the better; however this rule is not strictly observed, for 

 often they are horizontal, and towards the lower edge of a plane 

 of comb they are often declining. The first combs that a hive 

 forms are the smallest, and much neater than the last, or lower- 

 most. Their sides, or partitions between cell and cell, are much 

 thinner, and the hexagon is much more perfect. The wax is 

 purer, being probably little else but wax, and it is more brittle. 

 The lower combs are considerably larger, and contain much more 

 wax, or perhaps, more properly, more materials ; and the cells 

 are at such distances as to allow tln-m to be of a round figure : the 

 wax is softer, and there is something mixed with it. I have ob- 

 served that the cells are not all of equal size, some being a degree 

 larger than the others ; and that the small are the first formed, 

 and of course at the upper part, where the bees begin ; and the 

 larger are nearer the lower parts of the comb, or last made : how- 

 ever, in hives of particular construction, where the bees may begin 

 to work at one end, and can work both down, and towards the 

 other end, we often find the larger cells both on the lower part of 

 the combs, and also at the opposite end. These are formed for the 

 males to be bred in ; and in the hornet's and wasp's combs, there 

 are larger cells for the queens to be bred in ; these are also formed 

 in the lower tier, and the last formed. 



