86 STUDIES IN INSECT LIFE, ETC. 



paper, and of this the cells of the comb and the 

 coverings of the nest are formed. Later we must 

 consider the whole question of wax which is used 

 by the bee for its comb. 



One last point of difference, and one I do 

 not remember to have seen recorded, though 

 doubtless it has been. The long axes of the cells 

 of the wasp- and bee-combs lie at right angles to the 

 base of each comb. The papery cells of the wasps' 

 nest hang vertically from the roof of the nest, with 

 the opening directed earthwards, but the waxen 

 cells of the beehive project almost horizontally 

 and the comb consists of two layers of cells 

 placed back to back and with their openings 

 east and west or north and south. 



The colonies of both the honey-bee and of the 

 social wasps contain the same three categories of 

 individuals, (i) the males or drones, (ii) the workers 

 which are imperfectly developed females, and 

 (iii) the queens which alone are functional and lay 

 eggs ; but except in the late summer or early 

 autumn, when all three categories are extant 

 and active, there is a marked difference in the 

 life of the beehive and the life of the wasps' 

 nest. This difference rests on the fact that, as 

 autumn approaches, the wasps' nest, like the nest 



