ON BEES WAX. 187 



Earners found that the work had been ftopped ; the combs 

 which he had meafared on the 19th, were not at all increafed, 

 and were of a citron-yellow, nor was there a fingle white cell 

 in any of thefe hives. 



On the 1ft of July the chefnuts and limes were in bloflbm, —and a dry 

 the thermometer indicated the 20th degree; the wax-making ^'^"^^• 

 bees re-appeared, they carried away great quantities ot honey, 

 which, as we had before obferved, was employed in aug- 

 menting the provifions of the old hives, and in enabling the 

 young fwarms to conftrudt new combs. 



The greateft aftivity was obfervable among them : the ga- 

 thering of honey, and the produiftion of wax continued until 

 the middle of this month. 



July 1 6th, the heat remained the fame : the field flowers, as 

 we]l as thofe of the chefnuts and limes, were completely- 

 withered; they yielded no more honey; their pollen alone at- 

 trafled the working bees, and they colleded it abundantly, 

 but there was not any wax produced; the combs were not 

 lengthened ; thofe of the young fwarms did not fill more than ^ 



two thirds of their hives. 



Auguft 9th. It had not rained for fix weeks, the heat was, 

 very powerful, nor was there any dew to allay it during the 

 night: the black wheat which had been in flower for fome 

 days, did not offer any honey to the bees; they found only 

 pollen. 



On the 10th, it rained for feveral hours; next day the black 

 wheat had the odour of honey ; in fad it might be feen glit- 

 tering in their expanfed flowers. The bees found enou^^h to 

 feed them, but too little to induce them to work at new wax. 



On the I^th, the drought re-commenced, and lafted to the 

 end of the month: no more honey appeared upon the flowers, 

 and when we vifited the fixty-five hives for the lafl time, we 

 found, 1ft, that the bees had not produced any wax after ths 

 middle of July ; 2d, that they had ftored up a great quantity 

 of pollen ; 3d, that the fupply of honey was much leflTened in 

 the old hives, and that hardly any remained in the new fwarms, 

 that which they had collected in the fpring having been em- 

 ployed in the preparation of wax; the pollen, therefore, has 

 not this property, and no further doubt remained on this head. 



This year had not been ftormy, and I have fince afcertained. Weather moft 



by a great number of obfervations, that eledtricity is fingularly favourabe to the 

 •^ ° . r 1 1 labour of bees. 



4> lavourable 



