The Colony and its Organization 
49 
bees form the angles of the side walls and those of the side 
walls with the base. It has been stated that the comb is 
built with such accuracy that the maximum capacity and 
strength are obtained with the minimum expenditure of wax. 
Miraldi and Koenig vied with each other in the supposed 
accuracy of their measurements of the various angles and in 
their calculations of the greatest economy of wax. While 
it would be a marvelous accomplishment if bees were able to 
build so accurately, it is per¬ 
haps more marvelous that they 
can adapt their cells to their 
needs. It need scarcely be 
said that the formerly sup¬ 
posed accuracy is not actual. 1 
In addition to the horizon¬ 
tally placed hexagonal cells, 
there are found on the combs 
at certain times cells of a differ¬ 
ent type. These hang verti¬ 
cally from the combs and are 
used for rearing queens (Fig. 
38). They are circular rather than hexagonal, are larger 
than the other cells and the outer surface is rough and 
pitted, somewhat resembling a peanut. 
Contents of the cells. 
As previously stated, the cells of the comb are used for the 
rearing of brood and for the storage of honey and pollen, 
each use being in a sense more or less restricted to cells 
in definite locations. As the larvae (p. 100) reach the age 
when food is no longer taken, they are sealed over with a 
characteristic capping (Fig. 39), and when a cell is filled with 
ripened honey it too is sealed, but with a different capping 
1 Under manipulation, the size and regularity of the cells are controlled 
by the use of comb-foundation, sheets of pure beeswax on which the midrib 
is impressed (p. 28 ). Even when this is used, a sloping of the side walls 
of the cells toward the outer margin of the combs may often be observed. 
Fig. 38. — Queen cell. Natural 
size. 
