APIS MELLIFICA. 



that the bee holds the lamina of wax with its claws vertical- 

 ly, the tongue rolled up serving for a support, and, by ele- 

 vating or depressing it at will, causes the whole of its circum- 

 ference to be exposed to the action of the mandibles, so that 

 the margin is soon gnawed into pieces, which drop as they 

 are detached into the double cavity bordered with hairs of the 

 mandibles. These fragments, pressed by others newly sepa- 

 rated, fall on one side of the mouth, and issue from it in the 

 form of a very narrow ribbon. They are then presented to the 

 tongue, which impregnates them with a frothy liquor. During 

 this operation the tongue assumes all sorts of forms; some- 

 times it is flattened like a spatula, then like a trowel, which 

 applies itself to the ribbon of wax ; at other times it resembles 

 a pencil terminating in a point. After having moistened the 

 whole of the ribbon, the tongue pushes it so as to make it re- 

 enter the mandibles, but in an opposite direction, where it is 

 worked up anew. The liquor mixed with the wax communi- 

 cates to it a whiteness and opacity which it had not before, 

 and doubtless gives it that ductility and tenacity which it 

 possesses in its perfect state. 



Bees commonly begin at the top or roof of their chamber 

 and build downwards, at first working irregularly, and as it 

 were pasting over the surface, and then building horizontal 

 cells of a more perfect form. These at length become so nu- 

 merous that they extend downwards in the form of a vertical 

 wall ; other congeries of cells are formed in succession, until 

 the whole comb assumes the form of a series of perpendicular 

 plates or partitions. Each plate consists of a double set of 

 cells, the bottoms of which are applied to each other and form 

 the partition between each set. The plates are not always 

 regular, and the irregularities which may be observed are not 

 always necessary adaptations to a peculiar form of the cavity 

 in which they are built. The cells are not all of the same size, 

 but a sufficient number of a given depth are reserved for receiv- 

 ing the eggs, and which are necessarily adapted to the size of 

 the future maggot; the smaller or shallower cells are those in 

 which the honey is stored. The breeding and store cells are 

 placed horizontally, but the mouth of the cell is sometimes a 

 little raised, the better to retain the honey. The interspace 

 between the vertical combs is about half an inch, these streets, 

 as they may be termed, in this city of industry, being just 

 wide enough to allow two bees busied upon the opposite cells 



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