DIRECTION OP THE COMBS. 335 



of it; but we treat the whole account of the transaction 

 as a barefaced fiction, for no man ever yet beheld a bee con- 

 struct a cell, and we predict never will. 



The ovarium of the young queen on leaving the parent 

 hive is full of eggs, and it is therefore necessary that a recep- 

 tacle should be immediately provided for their deposition ; 

 indeed we have known eggs to be deposited in a cell twelve 

 hours after the hiving of the swarm. The queen never lays 

 her eggs but in the middle combs, and although a departure 

 from this principle appears to exist in the case of second 

 swarms, yet, on examination, it will be found that the first 

 comb which is constructed by a second swarm is still the 

 middle comb of their edifice. The direction of the combs 

 is always perpendicular, and parallel with the entrance of the 

 hive ; and on the first inspection, it appears wonderful how 

 so delicate and fine a piece of workmanship can sustain the 

 weight of a swarm of bees. On a closer examination, how- 

 ever, it will be found that the bees do not attach themselves 

 to the comb, but to the top of the hive ; and that in fact, 

 there is little or no weight really hanging to the combs. 

 The architecture of the bee is in every respect so perfect, 

 that no fear whatever ought to be entertained for the so- 

 lidity of their works ; the foundation of them is, what may 

 be termed a strong viscous glue, and as the combs progress 

 in size, they become regularly attached to the sides, which 

 obviates all danger of their falling. It is however for the 

 purpose of removing this danger, that the cottagers affix 

 the sticks in the hive, which certainly act as a support, but 

 when the hives are to be deprived of their stores, these 

 sticks become a most intolerable nuisance. 



It is scarcely possible to conceive a more beautifully at- 

 tenuated substance than the cell of a bee. The sides of fifty 

 cells laid upon each other would not make the thickness 

 of a common wafer. To each of the cells there is a border 

 which strikingly demonstrates the beautiful symmetry and 



