Festoons of Bees, suspended from the Roof of the Hive. Those who first reach the top, fix themselves there by the fore-feet; others, scrambling up the sides, join them by taking hold, with their fore-feet, of the hind-legs of the first; and thus they form a kind of chain, fastened by the two ends to the top of the hive, and serving as ladders, or a bridge, to assist others in ascending. Thus they continue to arrange themselves; the festoons crossing the hive in various directions, or falling gracefully down from the roof; at length forming in the centre a thick cluster of bees, and hanging from the top to the bottom of the hive.

One object of the bees, in thus clustering together, is, doubtless, to raise the temperature of the hive; to make it so warm that the wax will soften sufficiently for them to work with it, and use it as they wish. Wax in hard, dry scales, and in a cool place, it would be difficult for them to manage.

After arranging themselves in the manner described, the wax-makers remain quiet and motionless for nearly twenty-four hours. During this time, the wax is forming; and at length it appears in thin scales on the under part of the body, between the rings. These scales of wax are secreted or separated from the honey or syrup of sugar, which the bee had previously taken into her honey-bag.

When the wax is formed and ready for use, a single worker disengages itself from one of the inner festoons of the cluster, and makes its way to the roof of the hive, to begin the comb. It fixes itself near the centre, and then turns around, and, with its head, drives away the other bees, till a clear space is made, an

Wax-maker laying the Foundation of a Comb.

inch or more in size, where it can move freely. This bee is the founder of the comb.

The worker bee is provided with a pair of pincers at the joint of her hind-legs; with these she now seizes a scale of the wax formed under her body, and, drawing it forward with the claws of the fore-legs, conveys it to her mouth. Here she breaks the little scale into pieces, softening it all the time with a frothy liquid from her tongue. This gives it a whiteness and clearness which it had not before; and it comes out of the mouth of the bee in the form of a very narrow ribbon. Then she takes it up again with her claws, moistens it once more, works it over, and passes it a second time from her mouth, but in an opposite direction. Throughout this process, the tongue of the bee, as she applies it to the wax, puts on various shapes: sometimes it is flat,

like a trowel, and sometimes pointed, as a pencil.

When the particles of wax are thus softened and prepared, the worker bee, who is about to begin the comb, places them against the roof of the hive, arranging them as she pleases, with the point of her jaws. She then takes a second scale from her body and employs it in the same manner, uniting the particles with those of the first; and again a third, until she has disposed of all she has; when she quits her work and disappears among her companions.

Another bee, with wax under her rings, now leaves the cluster, and, suspending itself to the same spot, and taking out a scale with the pincers of her hind-legs, passes it into her mouth, and goes on with her work in the same way, joining her prepared wax to the other, and placing it in a line with the deposit made by the first bee. A third succeeds; then another; all following one and the same course, till a little low partition of wax, two-thirds of an inch in length, and about two-thirds of the

height of a cell, is formed against the roof of the hive. If any particle of the wax is placed improperly by one bee, the next coming removes it to the proper place.

Thus the foundation of the cells is laid; but no trace of their shape or size is yet to be seen. The work is now to be taken up by another set of bees. You have seen the masons engaged in building the walls of a house, and the labourers supplying them with the loads of brick or stone and mortar, necessary for carrying on their work. We may call the first bees the labourers, who prepare and convey the stone and the mortar; and after them come the masons, who are to use the materials in building the house. The wax-makers are worker bees; they prepare the wax and lay the foundation: the nurse or sculpture bees are workers also, and they follow to construct the cells.

No sooner is the little mass of wax large enough to admit a nurse or sculpture bee between the wax-makers, than they begin their work; at first, a single bee alone, as before.