THE HONEY-BEE. 125 



many, still the credit of being what is called " crude 

 wax." Buffon was of this opinion, and, in an edition 

 of his works published so late as 1821, no notice is 

 taken of the recent discoveries on the subject which 

 prove his opinion to be erroneous. Reaumur was 

 inclined to believe that pollen, by receiving some pe- 

 culiar elaboration from the bees, was converted in the 

 stomach to real wax, and disgorged under the ap- 

 pearance of paste. Later observers, however, denied 

 that wax was disgorged by the mouth ; they affirmed 

 that it exudes from the rings of the abdomen in the 

 form of small scales, and that pollen was used for very 

 different purposes. That this last mentioned substance 

 is not the prime constituent of wax was a conclusion 

 drawn from repeated and accurate observations. It 

 had been observed, for instance, that pollen is carried 

 in great quantities into hives which are already full 

 of comb, that it is often of various colours, while new 

 combs are always of a pure white, that fresh swarms 

 for some days carry no pollen, although their first ope- 

 ration after being housed is the construction of combs, 

 the building of which goes on with unremitted rapidi- 

 ty, and that while it has been calculated that 100 

 pounds weight of pollen is carried into a hive during 

 the season, the whole wax of a hive, when separated 

 from the honey, weighs something less than two pounds. 

 On the other hand, the evidence is strong that wax 

 derives its origin from honey. It is observed that 

 seasons unproductive in honey are also unproductive 

 in wax, although pollen is at the same time abundant, 

 that, by the accurate dissections of John Hunter, 



