WAX. 



55 



heat is evolved — a fact frequently noticed when comb- 

 building is going on rapidly in a hive. 



When wax is required for the abode of a fresh 

 swarm, or for filling up vacant spaces with comb, 

 the bees hang in festoons or chains, crossing the hive 

 in different directions. Remaining almost motion- 

 less for about twenty-four hours, the wax-makers 

 proceed with their business. Then, as soon as the 



Fig. ij. — Festoons of Bees Suspended from the Roof of the Hive. 



little scales are of the proper consistency, they are 

 withdrawn by the hind-feet of the bee, and carried 

 between the fore-legs to the mouth. There, worked 

 up with a small quantity of saliva, the substance is 

 softened ready for use, and being conveyed away by 

 those who have prepared it, and deposited in small 

 masses, it furnishes the materials from which the 

 comb-builders do their share of the duties of the 

 hive. Possibly some of the individuals of the lower 

 parts of the festoons, or clusters, may pass up their 

 portions of wax to those above them for transmission 



