"The secretion of wax, it would appear, goes on best when the bees are in a state of repose, and the wax-workers accordingly suspend themselves in the interioir of the hive in an extended cluster like a curtain, which is composed of a series of intertwined festoons or garlands crossing each other in all directions - the uppermost bee maintaining its position by laying hold of the roof by its fore-legs, and the suceeding one by laying hold of the hind-legs of the first, and so on." &mdash Goodrich, 1859

Bees Secreting Wax

"The secretion of wax, it would appear, goes on best when the bees are in a state of repose, and the…