HIVE-BEES. 1)1 



require a magnifier to be recognised, or we have been able 

 to discover nothing but spicnlee similar to those of water 

 freezing. Neither the spiciilse nor the scales rest imme- 

 diately on the membrane of the pocket, a slight liquid 

 medium is interposed, serving to lubricate the joinings of 

 the rings, or to render the extraction of the scales easier, as 

 otherwise they might adhere too firmly to the sides of the 

 jjockets." M. Huber has seen the scales so large as to 

 project bej^ond the rings, being visible without stretching 

 the segments, and of a whitish yellow, from greater thick- 

 ness lessening their transparency. These shades of difierence 

 in the scales of various bees, their enlarged dimensions, the 

 fluid interposed beneath them, the correspondence between 

 the scale, and the size and form of the pockets, seem to 

 infer the oozing of this substance through the membranes 

 whereon it is moulded. He was confirmed in this opinion 

 by the escape of a transparent fluid on piercing the 

 membrane, whose internal surface seemed to be applied to 

 the soft parts of the belly. This he found coagulated in 

 cooling, when it resembled wax, and again liquefied on 

 exposure to heat. The scales themselves, also, melted and 

 coagulated like wax.* 



By chemical analysis, however, it appears that the wax 

 of the rings is a more simple substance than that which 

 composes the cells ; for the latter is soluble in ether, and 

 in spirit of turpentine, while the former is insoluble in 

 ether, and but partially soluble in spirit of turpentine. It 

 should seem to follow, that if the substance found lying 

 under the rings l:>e really the elements of wax, it undergoes 

 some subsequent preparation after it is detached ; and that 

 the bees, in short, are capable of impregnating it with matter, 

 imparting to it whiteness and ductility, whereas in its 

 unprepared state it is only fusible. 



Propolis. 



Wax is not the only material employed by bees in their 

 architecture. Beside this, they make use of a brown, 



* Hubcr on Bees, p. 325. 



