COMB. 



95 



iug the honey season; and if there is no pluce to use them, 

 they are gathered in small knots here and there. This only 

 happens when the combs are entirely filled and sealed. It 

 has been noticed, most especially, in hives in which a comb 

 had been broken down by heat. (333.) In such cases, many 

 of the bees gorge themselves with the wasting honey, and 



Fig. 44. 



THE WAX-PRODUCING ORGAN OF THE WORKER. 



(Magnified. After Barbd.) 



cluster on the outside, until the heat has subsided, and the 

 running honey has been gathered up'. Scales of wax, in lumps, 

 •can then be found where they have clustered. 



203. Although the faculty of producing wax is diminished 

 in old bees, who are subject to the natural law which makes 

 it more difficult to fatten an old animal, it is proved that 

 they may also produce small scales of wax. 



