"The Wax Makers, having taken a due portion of "honey or sugar, from either of which wax can be "elaborated, suspend themselves to each other, the "claws of the fore-lers of the lowermost being attached "to those of the hind pair of the uppermost, and form "themselves into a cluster, the exterior layer of which "looks like a kind of curtain. This cluster consists of "a series of festoons or garlands, which cross each other "in all directions, and in which most of the Bees turn "their back upon the observer; the curtain has no "other motion than what it receives from the interior "layers, the fluctuations of which are communicated to "it. All this time the Nurse Bees preserve their wonted "activity and pursue their usual" employments. The "Wax Makers remain immovable for about twenty-" four hours, during which period the formation of wax " takes place ; and thin laminate of this material may be "generally perceived under their abdomen. One of " these Bees is now seen to detach itself from one of "the central garlands of the cluster, to make a way " amongst its companions to the middle of the vault or "top of the hive, and by turning itself round to form a " kind of void, in which it can move itself freely. It " then suspends itself to the centre of the space which " it has cleared, the diameter of which is about an inch; " it next seizes one of the lamino of wax with a pincer " formed by the posterior metatarnsus and tibia, and " drawing it from beneath the abdominal segment, one " of the anterior legs takes it with its claws and carries " it to the mouth. This leg holds the lamina with its " claws vertically, the tongue rolled up serving for a " support, and by elevating or depressing it at will, " causes the whole of its circumference to be exposed " to the action of the mandibles, so that the margin is " soon gnawed into pieces, which drop as they are " detached into the double cavity, bordered with hairs, " of the mandibles. These fragments, pressed by others " newly separated, fall on one side of the mouth and " issue from it in the form of a very narrow riband. " They are then presented to the tongue, which implicates them with a frothy liquor like a bouilli. " During this operation the tongue assumes all sorts of " forms : sometimes it is flattened like a spatula, then "like a trowel, which applies itself to the riband of " wax ; at other times it resembles a pencil terminating "in a point. After having moistened the whole of the "riband, the tongue pushes it so as to make it re-enter " the mandibles, but in an opposite direction, where it "is worked up anew. The liquor mixed with the wax "communicates to it a whiteness and opacity which it "had not before ; and the object of this mixture of "bouilli, which did not escape the observation of "Reaumur, is, doubtless, to give it that ductility and "tenacity which it posseses in its perfect state. "The Foundress Bee, the name which this first "beginner of a comb deserves, next applies these pre- "pared parcels of wax against the vault of the hive, "disposing them with the point of her mandibles in the "direction which she wishes them to take ; and she "continues these manouvres until she has employed "the whole lamina that she had separated from her "body when she takes a second proceeding in the same "manner. She gives herself no care to compress the "molecules of wax which she has heaped together ; she "is satisfied if they adhere to each other. At length "she leaves her work and is lost in the crowd of her "companions. Another succeeds and resumes the "employment ; then a third ; all follow the same plan "of placing their little masses ; and if any, by chance, "gives them a contrary direction, another coming "removes them to their proper place. The result of "all these operations is a mass or little wall of wax, "with uneven surfaces, five or six lines long, two lines "high, and half a line thick, which descends perpendicularly below the vault of the hive. In this first "work is no angle nor any trace of the figure of the " cells. It is a simple partition in a right line without " any inflection.