HIVE-BEES. 137 



restore it to its original lenticular form. They add 

 a waxen block around the whole circumference, and 

 on the edge of the comb construct pyramidal bottoms, 

 such as those fabricated on ordinary occasions. It is 

 a certain fact, that a comb never is extended in any 

 direction unless the bees have thinned the edges, 

 which are diminished throughout a sufficient space 

 to remove any angular projection. 



" The law which obliges these insects partly to de- 

 molish the cells on the edges of the comb before en- 

 larging it, unquestionably demands more profound in- 

 vestigation. How can we account for instinct leading 

 them to undo what they have executed with the utmost 

 care? The wonted regular gradation, which may be 

 necessary for new cells, subsists among those ad- 

 joining the edges of a comb recently constructed. 

 But afterwards, when those on the edge are deepened 

 like the cells of the rest of the surface, the bees no 

 longer preserve the decreasing gradation which is 

 seen in the new combs*." 



The Finishing of the Cells. 



While the cells are building, they appear to be of 

 a dull white colour, soft, even, though not smooth, 

 and translucent: but in a few days they become 

 tinged with yellow, particularly on the interior sur- 

 face ; and their edges, from being thin, uniform, and 

 yielding, become thicker, less regular, more heavy, 

 and so firm that they will bend rather than break. 

 New combs break on the slightest touch. There is 

 also a glutinous substance observable around the 

 orifices of the yellow cells, of reddish colour, unctuous, 

 and odoriferous. Threads of the same substance are 

 applied all around the interior of the cells, and at the 

 summit of their angles, as if it were for the purpose 

 * Huber on Bees, p. 391. 



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