THE HOME OF THE BEES 



a pound of wax. Sometimes, but not often, a 

 colony will use pieces of old comb in wax- 

 building, but generally they prefer the fresh 

 disks, as being more pliable. 



Their cells are hexagonal in shape, thus 

 conforming to one of the main principles of 

 mathematics, in the matter of occupying all 

 available space and also of securing the 

 greatest structural strength. The cells are 

 not horizontal, but incline from their opening 

 to their bottom, so as to be filled with honey 

 the more easily by the bees and to prevent 

 their running over. 



The comb is a trifle over an inch in thick- 

 ness, with cells on each side, and in their 

 natural state the bees space their combs about 

 j^ of an inch apart, so that they may travel 

 with comfort between them. These combs 

 when first built are a beautiful white, but they 

 soon become discolored, and when old will 

 be almost black, but this does not impair their 

 usefulness, as they will last for several years. 

 Being non-conductors of heat and cold, they 

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