2i6 
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 
reduced in thickness, and, did the cell remain empty, 
the drawing-out would be continued, reducing the 
accumulation on the rim, when wax would be econo- 
mised by further scraping, so as to secure material 
for the extension or completion of the structure ; but 
the return of the foragers, in prosperous times, puts 
nectar on to the bases of the half-drawn-out cells, or 
the queen bans disturbance by the deposition of an 
egg, and further thinning is henceforth entirely pre- 
vented. 
Drone-cells, on account of their greater diameter, per- 
mit of almost unlimited heaping-up of material on their 
Fig 63.— Half-finished Cells on Drone-foundation (Twice Natural Size). 
A, Cells showing Fittings in Heapecl-up Wax. B, Cell in Perpendicular Cross 
Section— p, p, Fittings ; cw, Cell Wall. C, Cell in Horizontal Cross Section. 
edges, and so drone-foundation is far more commonly 
completely thinned down than that of w’orker size; A, 
Fig- 63, e.g., giving an exact representation of comb 
worked on thick drone-foundation, showing the im- 
mense width to which the cell walls may be extended, 
while yet yielding to the worker ready entrance. The 
strange disposition to hollow the surfaces, probably 
derived by the bees from burrowing ancestors, is very 
noticeable ; and to such an extent has this been 
carried in some specimens in my possession, that 
the pittings have actually been converted into inci- 
/ 
