INSIDE THE HIVE.—Chapter VIII. 
- Bees secreting wax. Note how those at the bottom hang in chains. 
by mixing it in the mouth or masticating it, so to speak, it becomes a pli- 
able and ductile substance used in making the comb. There are many min- 
eral and vegetable waxes that resemble beeswax; but for its ductility bees- 
wax has the highest melting-point of any wax known—145 degrees Fahren- 
heit. So it is that if the honeycombs were to be made artificially of paraf- 
fin, for instance, they would not stand the high temperature of the hive, 
especially on hot days, but would sag or melt down. 
Comb and Comb-Building. 
Comb-building is the one object 
of the bees in secreting wax. Comb 
is made up of compact six-sided 
cells of wax, built out horizontally 
on both sides of a common base, 
called the midrib. The bees show 
the greatest economy of space in 
cell-building and also provide for 
the greatest possible strength by 
interplacing the ends of the cells 
at the midrib. But the combs that 
bees naturally build in hollow 
trees or “gums,” or sometimes on 
the branches of trees, are often 
crooked and bent. Worker comb 
used for brood-rearing is about 
%, inch thick, and the bees require 
a space of from five-sixteenths to 
a half of an inch between combs 
as a passageway. Cells that are 
used for honey are usually elong- 
ated, leaving the minimum pass- 
ageway between the surfaces of 
A sample of combs built by bees among 
the branches of a tree. They are big but 
shapeless. 
43 
