96 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



correct view of the subject, from observing the great 

 difference between wax and pollen; but he was in- 

 clined to think the pollen might be swallowed, par- 

 tially digested, and disgorged in the form of a 

 kind of paste. Schirach also mentions, that it was 

 remarked by a certain Lusatian, that wax comes 

 from the rings of the body, because, on withdrawing 

 a bee while it is at work, and extending its body, the 

 wax may be seen there in the form of scales. 



The celebrated John Hunter shrewdly remarked 

 that the pellets of pollen seen on the thighs of bees 

 are of different colours on different bees, while the 

 shade of the new-made comb is always uniform; and 

 therefore he concluded that pollen was not the origin 

 of wax. Pollen also, he observed, is collected with 

 greater avidity for old hives, where the comb is com- 

 plete, than for those where it is only begun, which 

 would hardly be the case were it the material of 

 wax. He found that when the weather was cold 

 and wet in June, so that a young swarm was pre- 

 vented from going abroad, as much comb was con- 

 structed as had been made in an equal time when the 

 weather was favourable and fine. 



The pellets of pollen on the thighs being thence 

 proved not to be wax, he came to the conclu- 

 sion that it was an external secretion originating 

 between the plates of the belly. When he first ob- 

 served this, he felt not a little embarassed to explain 

 the phenomenon, and doubted whether new plates 

 were forming, or whether bees cast the old ones as 

 lobsters do their shells. By melting the scales, he 

 ascertained at least that they were wax; and his opinion 

 was confirmed by the fact, that the scales are only to 

 be found during the season when the combs are con- 

 structed. But he did not succeed in completing the 

 discovery by observing the bees actually detach the 



