110 
ARCHITECTURE OF BEES. 
sures. They first form a ring of wax around the 
inside of the mouth of the cell ; to this first ring, ad- 
ditional ones are applied as the increased deposit of 
honey renders necessary, till at last the opening is 
completely sealed up by a succession of concentric 
rings. Besides the cells of workers and males, wc 
find, during the swarming season, other cells, to the 
number of six, eight, ten, or twelve, differing alto- 
gether from those first mentioned. These are the 
royal cells, the cradles of the infant queens. (PI. VI. 
fig. 1 , e, e.) They are found always on the edges of 
the combs, of such particularly as extend but half- 
way across the interior. These cells are constructed 
not entirely of wax, Mr. Hunter thinks, but of a 
mixture of that substance with farina. Their position 
is almost vertical, and somewhat resembling a hang- 
ing acorn ; their dimensions about one inch in length, 
and 3j lines in diameter. “ Their oblong cylindri- 
cal form, smoothly polished within, and covered ex- 
ternally with a kind of fret-work, gives them the re- 
semblance of a suspended stalactite, and announces 
a particular destination. In fact, the imposing ap- 
pearance of this cradle, and the profusion of materials 
expended on it, which is such, that one of them out- 
weighs 100 common cells, point it out as destined 
for receiving and rearing the most important person- 
age of the colony — the mother and queen.” * 
In the architectural operations of bees, the modus 
operandi has been minutely detailed in the writings of 
Huber. His observations and experiments on this 
* Feburier, Traite des Abeilles. 
