■'■*.'««U«/',''.'LfiIj^ 



Representation of a Bee house on an approved construction. 



CHAPTER IV. 



HISTORY OF THE HONEY-BEE.* 



To the bee we are indebted for two valuable articles of 

 commerce, — honey and wax : since the introduction of 

 sugar, honey has become less an article of general use, 

 and more one of luxury ; but wax is still extensively con- 

 sumed throughout the civilized world. Honey is collected 

 from flowers, is swallowed by the bees, and afterwards re- 

 gurgitated : the bee, laden with honey, returns to the hive, 

 enters a cell, pierces a hole in the crust on the surface of 

 the honey already therein, disgorges the honey in large 

 drops from its mouth, new models the crust, and closes up 

 the hole ; this mode of proceeding is regularly adopted by 



* Authority : — Huber's Histoiy of the Hive Bee, as copied hy Dr. 

 Bevan &c. 



