HUBER S FORMATION OP A COMB. 393 



there is no appeal. The admission of light into the hive is 

 the immediate signal for the suspension of all labour, and 

 although it he granted that the mirror hive is the best 

 adapted for wresting from the bees their hitherto impene- 

 trable secrets, yet on no occasion did we ever open the flap 

 of it, than an evident confusion reigned in the hive, and 

 although the progress of their works might be ascertained 

 since the last inspection, yet the immediate prosecution or 

 continuance of them could never be observed. On the esta- 

 blishment of a swarm in a hive, a certain number of bees 

 group themselves at the top, and to the casual observer they 

 appear as if they were in a state of complete idleness, when 

 on gently removing the outside bees, the beautiful white 

 comb presents itself in the middle of the group, but the mo- 

 ment that they are molested, a cessation of all labour takes 

 place. Huber has asserted, that in twenty-four hours he has 

 known a newly settled swarm form a comb of twenty-seven 

 inches long ! ! and seven or eight inches wide ! ! ! We will, 

 however, briefly investigate how far the construction of a 

 comb of that size is consistent with the nature of the bee. 

 Huber could not have been ignorant that the comb, which 

 is first made in the hive of a first swarm, is invariably ap- 

 propriated to the reception of the eggs of the young queen, 

 and that honey is seldom or never deposited in any of the 

 cells. Let us then suppose the bees forming a comb seven 

 or eight inches wide, it must thence follow, of course, that 

 the bees bred in those cells would be about four inches long; 

 for it is well known that a young bee occupies the entire 

 capacity of the cell, and that as it approaches maturity, the 

 covering of the cell becomes convex, on account of the pro- 

 trusion of its head. A comb of seven or eight inches in 

 breadth is a direct impossibility in a hive. The side combs, 

 which contain the finest honey, are considerably larger than 

 the middle combs, which are chiefly destined for the brood, 

 and therefore they never exceed in breadth twice the length 



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