Honey -Comb. 109 



When she has pulled out the scales, she 

 moistens them in her mouth with saliva, 

 for they are too brittle at first to be useful. 

 When they are thoroughly moistened and 

 softened, she pulls them out into white 

 bands. 



Now she is all ready to make honey-cups. 



First, in company with a number of her 

 sisters, she sticks a little wax along one 

 side of the hive near the top, then the 

 six-sided cups or cells are begun. 



This sounds easy enough, but suppose 

 you try to make a six-sided cell of moist 

 bees' wax and see how you succeed 1 



Of course you have not the best tools 

 in the world for such work, for good as 

 fingers may be for cutting with a scissors, 

 or driving nails, or picking up pins, they 

 would be poor tools- for making cells of 

 bees' wax. 



Miss Apis is supplied with something 

 better. You know about that. Those 

 claws on her feet are admirable wax tools, 



