184 
WAX AND COMB CONSTRUCTION, 
always or usually the case. We have before us combs 
built by Carniolan bees, taken from a flat-topped skep, 
which was sent to us for the purpose of measurement. 
Of the nine combs, only one had the rows of cells 
parallel with the top ; the others were all inclined, the 
slopes varying from io° to 45°. Some of the combs 
had two different slopes ; the left-hand half of one 
sloping 45°, while the right-hand side sloped only 15° 
The next comb to this sloped 45° and 10°. 
When combs are built regularly the cells are 
usually attached to the top by the two parallel sides 
(Fig. 68, A and b, so that the first row of cells, 
A B 
Fig. 68. — Attachment Cells. 
called attachment cells, have only four sides of wax, 
the tops, or fifth sides, being formed by the surface to 
which the cells are attached. Fig. 68 shows a row of 
these attachment cells at a; those in a are on one 
side of the comb, the rhombs at their bases being 
visible, while those at b show the other sides of these 
cells without the rhombs, which on this side form 
part of the next row of cells, b. 
When rows of cells are built at an inclination, the 
