APIS MELLIFICA. 



the fluctuations of which are communicated to it. All this 

 time the nurse bees preserve their wonted activity, and pur- 

 sue their usual employments. The wax-makers remain im- 

 movable for about twenty-four hours, during which period the 

 formation of the wax takes place, and thin laminae of this 

 material may be generally perceived under their abdomen. 

 One of these bees is now seen to detach itself from one of the 

 central garlands of the cluster, to make a way amongst its 

 companions to the middle of the vault or top of the hive, and 

 by turning itself round to form a kind of void, in which it can 

 move itself freely. It then suspends itself to the centre of the 

 space which it has cleared, the diameter of which is about an 

 inch. It next seizes one of the laminae of wax with a pincer 

 formed by the posterior metatarsus and tibia, and, drawing it 

 from beneath the abdominal segment, one of the anterior legs 

 takes it with its claws and carries it to the mouth." 



The wax has perhaps a nearer analogy to the sebaceous 

 secretion of the integument than to any other animal secretion ; 

 it is formed beneath the scales on the under side of the abdo- 

 men, and when accumulated there, seems to irritate the part, for 

 the bee may then be observed wagging her abdomen and run- 

 ning round, to and fro, as if endeavoring to shake out the little 

 scales ; and she is generally followed by one or two other bees 

 which have been attracted by her movements, and are ready 

 to seize upon the plates of wax as they fall. How the bees 

 mould the scales into the walls of the cells is not exactly 

 understood. Some have supposed that they bite pieces off 

 and join them together, but the smooth and uniform surface 

 of the cell shows that some other operation must take place ; 

 besides, the wall of the cell is sometimes thicker than a scale 

 of wax. It is therefore supposed that the bees have the power 

 of applying some dissolving or softening menstruum to the 

 wax-scales, by which they are enabled to knead and blend 

 them into a ductile paste. And when it is remembered that 

 the secretion of the salivary tubes of insects is generally alka- 

 line, and that wax is best dissolved by alkali, it is reasonable 

 to suppose that it is by this means that the wax-scales are 

 brought into a workable state. Reaumer indeed observed a 

 frothy substance exuding from the mouth of a bee while 

 working at a cell, which was applied to the proper place by 

 the nimble tongue, and then kneaded in by the mandibles ; and 

 Huber has described the process very circumstantially; he says 



7 



