HIVE-BEES. 95 



in collecting the wax from flowers are assisted by 

 their companions, who attend them at the door of 

 the hive, ease them of their load at their arrival, 

 brush their feet, and shake out the two balls of wax; 

 upon which the others return to the fields to gather 

 new treasure, whilst those who disburthened them 

 convey their charge to the magazine. But some bees, 

 again, when they have brought their load home, 

 carry it themselves to the lodge, and there deliver it, 

 laying hold of one end by their hinder feet, and with 

 their middle feet sliding it out of the cavity that con- 

 tained it; but this is evidently a work of supereroga- 

 tion which they are not obliged to perform. The 

 packets of wax continue a few moments in the lodge, 

 till a set of officers come, who are charged with a 

 third commission, which is to knead this wax with 

 their ket, and spread it out into different sheets, laid 

 one above another. This is the unwrought wax, 

 which is easily distinguished to be the produce of 

 different flowers, by the variety of colours that appear 

 on each sheet. When they afterwards come to work, 

 they knead it over again, they purify and whiten, 

 and then reduce it to a uniform colour. They use 

 this wax with a wonderful frugality ; for it is easy to 

 observe that the whole family is conducted by pru- 

 dence, and all their actions regulated by good go- 

 vernment. Everything is granted to necessity, but 

 nothing to superfluity; not the least grain of wax is 

 neglected, and if they waste it, they are frequently 

 obliged to provide more ; at those very times when 

 they want to get their provision of honey, they take 

 off the wax that closed the cells, and carry it to the 

 magazine."* 



Reaumur hesitated in believing that this was a 



* Pluche, Spectacle de la Nature, vol. i. 



