Mr. Hunter's Observations on Bees. 147 
bleaching, is brought back to its natural colour, which is also 
a proof that its colour is derived from some mixture. I 
have reason to believe that they take the old comb, when 
either broken down, or by any accident rendered useless, and 
employ it again ; but this can only be with combs that have 
had no bees hatched in them, for the wax cannot be sepa- 
rated from the silk afterwards. Reaumur supposed that they 
new worked up the old materials, because he found the cover- 
ing of the chrysalis of a yellower colour than the other parts 
of the new comb ; but this is always so, whether they have old 
yellow comb to work up, or not, as will be shewn. 
The bees who gather the farina, also form the wax, for I 
found it between their scales. 
The cells, or rather the congeries of cells, which compose the 
comb, may be said to form perpendicular plates, or partitions, 
which extend from top to bottom of the cavity in which they 
build them, and from side to side. They always begin at the 
top, or roof of the vault, in which they build, and work down- 
wards ; but if the upper part of this vault, to which their combs 
are fixed, is removed, and a dome is put over, they begin at the 
upper edge of the old comb, and work up into the new cavity 
at the top. They generally may be guided as to the direction 
of their new plates of comb, by forming ridges at top, to which 
they begin to attach their comb. In a long hive, if these 
ridges are longitudinal, their plates of comb will be longitu- 
dinal ; if placed transverse, so will be the plates ; and if oblique, 
the plates of comb will be oblique. Each plate consists of a 
double set of cells, whose bottoms form the partition between 
each set. The plates themselves are not very regularly ar- 
ranged, not forming a regular plane where they might have 
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