No. 63.] 237 



portaiit ones. Bees are pirates and robbers of the first stnmp. Nev- 

 ertlieless, in all tiieir conienlions J'or the mastery that I liave disco- 

 vered, hostilities cease as soon as the conquerors have gained the vic- 

 tory; and it is not uiKonimon for the conquered to lurn in with the 

 conquerors and assist in carrying oti the s[)oil, and all leave in a body and 

 go home in company with the conquerors. Eees are irritable when in- 

 sulted, and manifest it in the most virulent manner by using their sting 

 as a weapon of warfare as well as defence. I^lotwithstantling the bee 

 always dies when it has stung so as to lose its sting, their passions of 

 anger are so strong that they frequently plunge into danger without 

 the least apparent forethought or remorse; bees will sting some per- 

 sons with the greatest fury, wlien others may remain in their pre- 

 sence and even handle them with impunity, without exciting the least 

 hostile I'eeling on the part of the bees. The cause of this fact, no 

 doubt is this: The exhalations of some persons send torth an effluvia 

 that is very offensive to the bees. I cannot say it is a constitutional 

 defect, yet it may be; for I once knew a man that was a grest lover 

 of the apiary, and would handle his bees with the most friendly feel- 

 ings, not only on his part, but the bees also, for they would never 

 sting him; but a fit of sickness, to liis great mortification, had unfit- 

 ted him so far for the apiary, that he was unable to go near his bees 

 on account of their hostility, until the effect of the medicine he had 

 taken was worn off, and his former constitution and habits were com- 

 pletely reinstated. 



Bees exhale more, perhaps, than any other animated being in pro- 

 portion to their size and weight. A good swaim of bees, when their 

 stomachs are emjjty of honey, will weigh about two pounds; these 

 bees will consume sixteen or eighteen pounds of honey during cold 

 weather, without having a single evacuation of the bowels — eight or 

 ten times the weight of their own bodies. Now this is accounted 

 for only by their exhalations; but a small proportion of the honey 

 they eat, forms excrement in their bowels; when the honey is digested 

 in the stomachs of the bees, it passes off through the pores of their 

 bodies, and forms vapor, usually called bees^ breath; this vapor soon 

 becomes dense, like dew, and set'les upon the combs and sides of the 

 hive, runs down and discharges at the hive's bottom. Nevertheless, 

 some hives are known to be so strongly populated, that the bees eat 

 less, of course exhale less in proportion to their number;and thebees 

 are able to keep up animal heat in the hive sufficient to consume the 

 vapor, which keeps the honey warm and more nutritive, combs dry, 

 and the bees from freezing. Thinly populated hives 07ily, should be 

 doubled in the fall for wintering. 



But a small portion of the honey that is taken upon the human 

 stomach, digests and passes off in the ordinary manner that other food 

 does; it is diffused through the system more like brandy, goes into 

 the blood, and passes off in urine. It is believed that even beeswax, 

 (wdiich is always made of honey,) principally passes the human sys- 

 tem in the same way. I will illustrate this sentiment by a single oc- 

 currence which took place in this neighborhood. W. B. M. Esq., 

 had a child that was excessively fond of beeswax. It was found one 



