MANUFACTURE OF WAX. 



83 



most of the bees turn their back upon the ob- 

 server. In this position the wax-makers remain 

 immovable for about 

 twenty - four hours, 

 during which period 

 the secretion of wax 

 takes place. At last 

 one of them is seen 

 to detach itself from 

 the rest, and to 

 make its way to the 

 top of the hive, 

 where it turns itself 

 round, and clears a 

 space of about an 

 inch in diameter. It 

 then seizes one of the plates of wax with a pincer, 

 formed at the joints of the leg, and drawing it 

 forwards, one of the fore legs takes it with its 

 claw and carries it to the mouth. The insect 

 then proceeds by means of its mandibles and its 

 proboscis to reduce the plate to a riband of wax, 

 which it softens with a frothy liquor. During 



FESTOON OF WAX-MAKEKS. 



