THE HIVE BEE. 523 



seems prodigious; and in the execution of it some weeks are often 

 employed. On the ground, for about a foot from the place in which 

 one of these Bees is working, little heaps of timber-dust are to be 

 seen. These heaps daily increase in size, and the particles that com- 

 pose them are almost as large as those produced by a hand-saw. The 

 strong jaws of this insect are the only instruments of perforation 

 which she employs. After the holes are prepared, they are divided 

 into ten or twelve separate apartments, each about an inch deep, the 

 roof of one serving for the bottom of another. The divisions are corn- 

 posed of particles of wood, cemented together by a glutinous substance 

 from the animal's body. In making one of these she commences by 

 gluing an annular plate of wood-dust, about the thickness of half-a 

 crown, round the internal circumference of the cavity: to this plate she 

 attaches a second, to the second a third, and so on till the whole floor 

 is completed. Before each cell is closed, it is filled with a paste 

 composed of the farina of flowers mixed with honey, and an egg is 

 deposited in it. When the larva is hatched, it has scarcely room 

 sufficient to turn itself in the cell ; but as the paste is devoured, the 

 space is enlarged so as to allow the animal to perform every necessary 

 operation towards changing its state. 



In a range of cells, the worms are necessarily of different ages, and 

 of course of differert sizes. Those in the lower cells are older than 

 those in the upper ; because, after the Bee has filled with paste, and 

 enclosed the first cell, a considerable time is requisite to collect pro- 

 visions, and to form partitions for every successive and superior cell, 

 The former, therefore, must be transformed into nymphs and flies 

 before the latter. These circumstances would almost appear to be 

 foreseen by the mother; for if the undermost worm, which is the 

 oldest, and soon transformed, were to force its way upward, which it 

 could easily do, it would not only disturb, but would infallibly destroy 

 all those lodged in. the superior cells. But Providence has wisely 

 prevented this devastation ; for the head of the nymph, and conse- 

 quently of the fly, is always placed in a downward direction. Its 

 first instinctive movements must, consequently, be in that direction. 

 That the young Bees may escape from their respective cells, the 

 mother digs a hole at the bottom of the long tube, which makes a 

 communication between the undermost cell and the open air. Seme- 

 times a similar passage is made near the middle of the tube. By this 

 contrivance as all the Bees instinctively endeavor to cut their way 

 downward, tbpy find an easy and convenient passage; for they havo 

 only to pierce the floor of their cells in order to make their escape, 

 a:ul this they do with their teeth very readily. 



THE HIVE BEE. 



In the formation of their combs, the present insects seem to resolve 

 a problem which would not be a little puzzling to some geometri 

 cians, namely : " A quantity of wax being given, to make of it equal 

 and similar cells of a determined capacity, but of the largest size ii 



