BEES IN THE HIVE. 
207 
half an inch deep, stand all along each side of the 
comb ready to receive honey or bee-eggs. 
You can see the shape of these cells in c, d, Fig. 60, 
and notice how closely they fit into each other. Even 
the ends are so shaped that, as they lie back to back, 
the bottom of one cell (B, Fig. 60) fits into the space 
between the ends of three cells meeting it from the 
opposite side (A, Fig. 60), while they fit into the spaces 
around it. Upon this plan the clever little bees fill 
every atom of space, use the least possible quantity of 
FIG. 60. B shows in the centre the closed end of a cell which 
would fit into the space in the centre of the three closed 
cells in A, while the ends of these three would fit into the 
spaces in B. c, d, side-view of cells. 
wax, and make the cells lie so closely together that 
the whole comb is kept warm when the young bees 
are in it. 
There are some kinds of bees who do not live in 
hives, but each one builds a home of its own. These 
bees such as the upholsterer bee, which digs a hole in 
the earth and lines it with flowers and leaves, and the 
mason bee, which builds in walls do not make six- 
sided cells, but round ones, for room is no object to 
them. But nature has gradually taught the little hive- 
bee to build its cells more and more closely, till they 
