84 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



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 complete, 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 prevented from going 

 abroad, as much comb was constructed 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 conclusion that it was an 

 external secretion, originating between the plates of the 

 belly. When he first observed this, he felt not a little 

 embarrassed to explain the phenomenon, and doubted 

 whether new plates were forming, or whether bees cast 

 their old ones as lobsters do their shell. 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 dis- 

 covery by observing the bees actually deta(?h the scales, 

 though he conjectured they might be taken up by others, if 

 they were once shaken out from between the rings.* • 



We need not be so much surprised at mistakes committed 

 upon this subject, when we recollect that honey itself was 

 believed by the ancients to be an emanation of the air- — 

 a dew that descended uj)on flowers, as if it had a limited 

 commission to fall only on them. The exposure and cor- 

 rection of error is one of the first steps to genuine know- 

 ledge ; and when we are aware of the stumbling-blocks 

 whicli have interrupted the progress of others, avc can 

 always travel more securely in the wa}^ of truth. 



That wax is secreted is proved both by the wax-pouches 

 within the yings of the abdomen, and by actual experiment. 

 Huber and others fed bees entirely upon honey or sugar, 

 * Philosopliical Trans, for 1792, p. 143. 



