144 Rev. Mr Dunbar cm the Instinci and Operations of Bees^ 
each side of the comb, v/as exposed to my view ; not a single 
bee could escape my notice, nor could even Majesty itself be se- 
cure from my observation. This unicomb-hive was set to work 
only last summer, and its ill-fated inhabitants perished in the in- 
tense cold of the 1st of January,- — facts which will account for 
the observations being confined to what passed during the warm 
season. I was- much disappointed at this catastrophe, as I an- 
ticipated no small amusement from observing their operations 
during spring, the commencement of the laying season, — the 
period at which the queen lays the eggs of working bees, — of 
drones, — and of young queens ; — the preparations for swarm- 
ing, — the appearance of the interior of the hive at and after that 
interesting crisis,- — ^in short, the whole process ab ovo till the fi- 
nal emigration of the superfluous population. To repair the 
misfortune, however, I introduced, on the 25th current, a swarm 
from another hive into the unicomb; and this morning, the 
27th, I had the satisfaction to see her majesty very busy laying 
the eggs of workers. As the hive contains plenty of honey and 
farina, stored up during last summer, I have no doubt the 
breeding will go on rapidly ; and I shall perhaps have the plea- 
sure of realising all my former expectations, and of transmitting 
to you, in the course of the season, observations more worthy of 
your notice than those I send at present. 
Observation 1. — When the bees w^ere put into the unicomb- 
Ihve in June last, they of course instantly began building comb. 
But the narrov/ limits of their new abode being only one inch 
and two-thirds between the glasses, prevented any considerable 
number of them from working at the top. A large portion of 
them, therefore, began a comb on the stick which crosses the 
hive in the middle, see Plate VI. Fig. 6. and thus two combs 
were going on at once, which eventually became one when the 
upper half reached down to the stick. It appeared, however, 
that there was still a want of room and of employment for these 
willing and industrious labourers ; for, to my surprise, a portion 
of them began a comb on the upper sidc/of the cross stick, and, 
contrary to their natural mode of proceeding, wrought upwards ; 
so that in four days or less, the upper comb and this middle 
piece met, and the whole separate parts were joined, and be- 
came one square, see Fig. 7. 
