200 THE LORE OF THE HONEY-BEE 



the roof of the hive, with their queen snug and 

 warm in their midst. 



No doubt one of the chief reasons why swarming 

 bees unite themselves in the solid pendant mass of 

 the cluster so soon after leaving the parent-hive, 

 is to hasten this process of wax-formation. It has 

 been proved that wax is most easily generated 

 under the influence of great heat, and this is well 

 secured in the heart of the cluster. By the time 

 the scouts have decided on the new home, and 

 the swarm must rise again on the wing, a great 

 number of the bees will have their wax-pockets 

 filled, and will be ready for the work of comb- 

 making. When a swarm is hived, even if it be 

 only a short time after its issue, the little white 

 wax-scales can be seen protruding from the 

 armour-joints of many of the bees, and these are 

 often dropped and lost in the general confusion. 



One of the most difficult things to observe in 

 bee-life is the actual process of comb -building. 

 The crush is so great, and the movement of the 

 bees so incessant, that at first the comb seems to 

 grow of itself rather than be made by the busy 

 multitude, for ever obscuring it from the watcher's 

 eyes, or giving him but the rarest glimpse now 

 and then of its white, delicate frailty of pattern. 

 These early efforts of the comb-builders, produced 

 as they are under forced circumstances, are occa- 

 sionally faulty of design, as though hastily knocked 

 together. Sometimes the first groups of cells made 



