BEES’ HABITS AND PRODUCTS —§ 49 
one of the greatest marvels of the bee com- 
munity. In its architecture and workmanship 
it forms, indeed, one of the greatest wonders 
in the whole realm of nature. With its multi- 
tudinous hexagonal cells, a honeycomb presents 
a continuous source of delight; it is so con- 
structed that not a single atom of space is 
wasted and so designed that the minimum of 
material is used. Let it be remembered that 
the honeycomb, primarily, is intended to serve 
as a nest for the offspring of the queen— 
each cell to be a separate cradle for the pro- 
duct of the egg placed therein. 
As a rule, as we have noted, the cells 
are six-sided; the exceptions are the queen 
cells—which are acorn-shaped—and the inter- 
mediate cells which form buffers as it were 
between the worker and drone cells. The 
latter are always built on the outside edge of 
the combs. The worker cells are the smallest, 
and, although the bees hatched from new 
combs are usually larger than those from old 
ones, the difference is but slight. The reason 
for this is that as each bee is hatched it leaves 
behind in the cell the cocoon in which its 
metamorphosis was accomplished, and thus 
diminishes to that extent the size of the cell. 
Bees-wax.—The wax of which the cells 
Ez 
