HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 249 



the honey, and combined with fatty and other matter, 

 when it exudes in little scales from between the rings of 

 the abdomen in the state of pure wax. 



The fourth substance is " Propolis," a dark- coloured 

 resin, which the Bee gathers from the buds and wounds 

 of various trees. This is used in the hive for various 

 purposes. It varnishes the combs and strengthens the 

 edges of the cells, and is used on various emergencies, 

 either to stop crevices, or occasionally to seal up and 

 cover obnoxious objects which may have intruded into 

 the hive. 



In seasons when honey is scarce, Bees will eagerly 

 feed on other sweet substances honey-dew, the juice of 

 fruit, or over-ripe or bruised gooseberries, &e., but it 

 appears that from these things the wax cannot be 

 elaborated. 



The enemies of Bees are very numerous. Besides 

 the Cuckoo-like parasites of their own tribe, the " Ruby- 

 tails," and the Mutill, which follow the burrowing wild 

 Bees into their homes, they are subject to the persecu- 

 tion of personal parasites, as the Stylops (see p. 101), 

 not uncommon on Hive and other Bees, and the acari 

 or mites, which abound to a conspicuous degree upon 

 the Humble Bees. Some fall a prey in their larvahood 

 to the Ichneumon tribes, and others are carried bodily 

 away by other predaceous Hymenoptera. Earwigs also 

 destroy enormous numbers of underground Bees. In 

 their very hives, too, they are beset with enemies. A toad 

 has been seen to sit at the mouth of a hive and devour 

 the Bees one by one as they appeared. The larva of the 

 Death's-Head Moth finds its way to the interior, where 

 it feeds upon the honey stored there ; the larva of 

 another genus of Moths still worse devours the waxen 



