176 THE FARMER'S MAXUAL. 



the cavities of their hinder legs. The Bee roams 

 from flower to flower in quest of this substance, and 

 never quits the species of flower on which she first 

 alights, until she has collected her load, and returned 

 with it to her hive, where she is unburthened of her 

 load, by the attending labourers. This is performed 

 with their teeth, and the treasure deposited in a cell, 

 and pressed close with their hinder feet. This pol- 

 len, or farina, is placed at the bottoms of the cells, 

 until they are about half full, and then covered with 

 honey until the cell is filled ; this secures the pollen 

 from both air and moisture ; and thus, by their won- 

 derful sagacity, they screen their food from the two 

 elements, which, if they found access to it, would 

 sour and destroy it. This perishable property in 

 farina, shows, also, that it is not wax, although it is 

 the substance from which wax is made, for wax is 

 imperishable, either from air, or water ; wax is solu- 

 ble with heat, pollen is not; wax will float on water, 

 but pollen sinks in water; all these particulars show, 

 that pollen is not wax, yet all Apiarians -are agreed, 

 that wax is the result of certain operations which 

 pollen undergoes by the management of the Bees, 

 yet, they are not agreed how this is performed ; the 

 Bee has never disclosed the secret, and pvobably 

 never will. All are agreed, that farina is converted 

 into wax, by the mouth of the Bee, and many, that 

 the digestine powers of the stomach are brought into 

 action to aid the process ; but, even here, all becomes 

 conjecture again, and the question is left as undeter- 

 mined, as how the leaf of the mulberry is converted 

 into silk, by the mouth and stomach of the silk-worm ; 

 so much behind the curtain, and so concealed from 

 the research of man, are these two useful, common 

 and valuable operations of nature. The use of pol- 

 len as food for the Bees, and more particularly for 

 the broods, may be illustrated more fully by the fol- 

 lowing fact. " Mr. Huber had a stock of Bees in a 

 glass hive, with twelve partitions ; the queen of 



