BEE. 
409 
the plates, especially if there be a cross stick to 
support the comb ; these allow of bees to go across 
from plate to plate. The substance they use for 
attaching their combs to surrounding parts is not 
the same as the common wax ; it is softer and 
tougher, a good deal like the substance with which 
they cover in their chrysalis, or the humble bee 
surrounds her eggs. It is probably a mixture of 
wax and farina. The cells are placed nearly hori- 
zontally, but not exactly so ; the mouth raised a 
little, which probably may be to retain the honey 
the better : however, the rule is not strictly ob- 
served ; for often they are horizontal, and towards 
the lower edge of a plate of comb they are often 
declining. The first combs that a hive forms are 
the smallest, and much neater than the last, or 
lowermost. Their sides, or partitions between cell 
and cell, are much thinner, and the hexagon is 
much more perfect ; the wax is purer, being pro- 
bably little more but wax, and it is more brittle. 
The lower combs are considerably larger, and con- 
tain much more wax, or perhaps, more properly, 
more materials ; and the cells are at such distances 
as to allow them to be of a round figure ; the wax is 
softer, and there is something mixed with it. I 
have observed that the cells are not all of equal size, 
some being a degree larger than the others ; and 
that the small are the first formed, and of course at 
the upper part where the bees begin, and the larger 
are nearer the lower part of the comb, or last made: 
however, in hives of particular construction, where 
