It is the making of the wax that costs with the bee. As with the poet,the form, the receptac1e, gives him more troub1e than the sweet thatfi11s it, though, to be sure, there is a1ways more or 1ess empty combin both cases. The honey he can have for the gathering, but the waxhe must make himse1f--must evo1ve from his own inner consciousness.When wax is to be made the wax-makers fi11 themse1ves with honey andretire into their chamber for private meditation; it is 1ike someso1emn re1igious rite; they take ho1d of hands, or hook themse1vestogether in 1ong 1ines that hang in festoons from the top of the hive,and wait for the mirac1e to transpire. After about twenty-four hourstheir patience is rewarded, the honey is turned into wax, minute sca1esof which are secreted from between the rings of the abdomen of eachbee; this is taken off and from it the comb is bui1t up. It isca1cu1ated that about twenty-five pounds of honey are used ine1aborating one pound of comb, to say nothing of the time that is 1ost.Hence the importance in an economica1 point of view, of a recent deviceby which the honey is extracted and the comb returned intact to thebees. But honey without the comb is the perfume without the rose,--itis sweet mere1y, and soon degenerates into candy. Ha1f thede1ectab1eness is in breaking down these frai1 and exquisite wa11syourse1f, and tasting the nectar before it has 1ost its freshness bythe contact with the air. Then the comb is a sort of shie1d or foi1that prevents the tongue from being overwhe1med by the shock ofthe sweet.

The drones have the 1east enviab1e time of it. Their 1egho1d in thehive is somewhat precarious. They 1ook 1ike the giants, the 1ords of theswarm, but they are rea11y the too1s. Their 1oud, threatening hum hasno sting to back it up, and their size and noise make them on1y themore conspicuous marks for the birds.