102 THE BUILDING OF BEES. 



she wants also to make their bottom concave. The final re- 

 sult is that one-third of the bottom of each of three cells 

 makes the bottom of the one cell opposite, and each one of 

 the lozenges is flattened, so as not to encroach on the opposite 

 cells. 



214. The cells are not horizontal, but inclined from the 

 orifice to the bottom (fig. 46), so as to be filled with honey 



more easily. The thickness of 

 worker-brood comb is about 

 one inch, with cells opening 

 on each side. The distance 

 between combs is about 7-16 

 of an inch. This space is 

 not always exact, but is never 

 under 5-16, that being neces- 

 sary for the bees to travel be- 

 tween the combs without in- 

 terfering with one another. 

 These distances can be a little 

 increased without troubling the bees, and we place the combs 

 in our hives one and a half inches from center to center, for 

 easier manipulation. 



215. When the combs are newly built, they are white, but 

 they get color shortly afterwards, especially during the har- 

 vest of yellow honey. When used for breeding, the cast skins 

 and residues from the larvse (167) give them a dark color, 

 which becomes nearly black with age, especially if bees have 

 suffered with diarrhoea ('i'84), or raised a great many drones. 

 (190.) 



As wax is a bad conductor, the combs aid in keeping the 

 bees warm, and there is less risk of the honey candying in the 

 cells. 



216. Is the size of the cells mathematically exact? When 

 the first Republic of France inaugurated the decimal system 

 of weights and measures, Reaumur proposed to take the cells 

 of the bees as a standard to establish the basis of the system, 

 but it was ascertained that cells are not uniform in size. 



Fig, 



SHOWING THE SLOPE OF THE CELLS 

 AND SHAPE OP THE BASE. 



(Prom Sartori and Rauschenfels.) 



