The secretion of wax, and the method of its adaptation by the bees, is thus admirably described by Evans:—
Thus filtered through yon flatterer's folded mail
Clings the cooled wax, and hardens to a scale.
Swift at the well-known call, the ready train
(For not a buzz boon Nature breathes in vain,)
Spring to each falling flake, and bear along
Their glossy burdens to the builder throng.
These, with sharp sickle, or with sharper tooth,
Pare each excrescence, and each angle smooth,
Till now, in finish'd pride, two radiant rows