Let us now examine the construction of the comb in its usual way of proceeding :— The first operation is the formation of wax ; this is not, as many have supposed, the farina collected from flowers, but ie secreted by the insect at the time of building the combs. For this purpose the wax workers suspend themselves in festoons from the top of the him. Those which first roach the top fix themselves by the claws of the forelegs to the roof, and are followed by others which attach them selves to them, until an inverted cone or festoon of bees is formed, each end of which ie attached to the roof of the hive. Before the commencement of the new comb, the interior of a hive presents a series of festoons of this description, intersecting each other in all directions, the bees remaining iu perfect repose.
At this time the wax is secreted and makes its appearance in little scales which exude between the segments on the under side of the abdomen, eight scales being visible in each bee. The wax being secreted, one of the bees commences the comb ; having detached itself from the festoon, it snaky; its way to the roof of the hive, and after clearing a space by driving away the other bees, it detaches one of the scales from the abdomen by mane of its hinder logs : this is then conveyed by the fore legs to the mouth, where it is masticated, and impregnated with a frothy liquid by the tongue, in which process it obtains a whiteness and opacity which it did not before possess. The particles of wax are then applied to the roof of the hive. Another scale undergoes the same process, and is attached to the first. The bee time continues labouring until all its scales aro disposed of; it then quits its situation and is followed by another bee, which proceeds with its scales iu the work already begun, depositing the wax in a straight line with the former deposition. The same operation is performed by many other bees, until a considerable block is deposited. This block is generally about five or six lines long (a lino is equal to one-twelfth of an inch), the height two lines, and the thickness half a lino; and it is upon this that the formation of the cella commences.
We have seen that the foundation of the block is the work of one bee, so likewise is the commencement of the colls;—the former is the work of what is called the wax-workers, which, we are informed by Huber, do not possess the power of sculpturing the cells:—tho cells are made by the sculpturer-been, who are smaller than the wax-workers.
No sooner is the block largo enough to admit a sculpturer-beo between the wax-workers than the excavation commences. There seems to be an instinctive desire to perform the work of excavation wherever there is room, even though there may not be sufficient to form a perfect cell ; for we never observe a solid piece of wax in any part of a comb. On the contrary, if by any accident there has been space unoccupied by cells, we find that the wax has been excavated at that part as much as was practicable.
The bee, impelled by instinct to deposit wax and to excavate, and also guided by an acute sense of feeling in the antennss (probably through the elasticity of the wax) as to the degree to which the excavation should proceed, forms the comb ; and in so doing it seems to act, not from choice, but from a necessity imposed upon it by two antagonist prineiples,—one causing it to deposit and excavate wax,and the other acting through the antennss, and limiting the degree of excavation.
It is to this desire for performing the work of excavation that we attribute the small excavations about the royal cells, which are said to be for the purpose of facilitating the exit of the young queen. If the wax were removed for that purpose, we do not see why the operation should not be confined to that part through which she makes her escape. On the other hand, if from the wax of the royal cells being thicker than it is in other parts of the comb, the workers are induced to make excavations, and desist only upon the thickness being reduced to that of the ordinary partitions, it follows that it will at last become uniformly thin, as described by Huber ; the reason here given differing from Huber's, but we think more in accordance with the habits and economy of the animal.
In forming the cells, a hollow is first excavated on one side of the wax-blocks ; this excavation is rather less than the width of a cell, and is immediately followed by two of a similar description on the opposite side of the block. The particles of wax removed in excava tion are kneaded by the jaws of the bee and deposited on the edges of the intended cells; the two latter excavations (b, b, fig. 12) are neces sarily on each side of the first (a, fig. 12), though close to it. In placing the two last-mentioned cells, the bees avoid the opposite part on account of the thinness of the wax, and the size of the wax-block will not admit of their being remote from the first.