178 THE FARMER'S MANUAL. 



the hive. In the course of a few minutes, the Bees 

 partook of the pollen, devoured it greedily, attached 

 themselves to the cells of the young larva, into 

 which they entered head foremost, and remained in 

 them for a greater or less time. The hive was gent- 

 ly raised, and the Bees which devoured the pollen 

 were powdered, and it was observed that the Bees 

 which were powdered returned to the pollen, and 

 then again repaired to the brood, and entered into 

 the cells of the larva. On the 23d, the royal cells 

 were begun. On the 24th, it was observed that all 

 the larva had some mucous matter upon them, that 

 some of the cells had been lately closed, and that 

 the royal cells had been elongated. On the 26th, 

 two royal cells had been closed during the night. On 

 the 27th, full liberty was given to the Bees ; the mu- 

 cous matter was still found in the cells, which con- 

 tained larva, and a greater number had been closed 

 with a covering of wax, and on opening several of 

 them, the larva were found spinning their cocoon. 

 After this experiment, no further doubt can be enter- 

 tained, that the pollen was the food of the young 

 Bees, and it was the deficiency of this substance that 

 caused their death, and the evident agitation of the 

 Bees, during their former captivity." 



CHAP. XIII. 

 On Wax. 



We have before observed, that propolis is not 

 wax, neither is pollen, wax ; but that both form the 

 basis of wax, through the operations of the Bees, 

 which are inexplicable to us. The great variety of 

 sentiment upon this subject, began as early as the 

 days of Aristotle, and continues down to our times, 

 and will most probably continue. Messrs. Hubci 



