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hive. The search is, in general, continued for about a fortnight pre- 

 vious to their removal. 



Mr: Knight has observed, that in this case also colonies will some- 

 times unite; for he has seen, in two instances, a swarm received into 

 a cavity, of which another swarm had previous possession, without 

 opposition. He infers, therefore, that some preceding intercourse 

 must have taken place between the two swarms, although anything 

 like an agreement between them be scarcely consistent with the 

 limits generally supposed to be set to the instinctive powers of the 

 brute creation. 



When a young swarm issues from the parent hive, they generally 

 soon settle on some neighbouring bush or tree, wholly unprotected 

 from rain or cold ; and their object apparently is merely to collect 

 their numbers previous to removal to the place they have fixed upon 

 for their future residence. Their readiness to accept a hive as a sub- 

 stitute, may appear to militate against any supposed predetermina- 

 tion ; but Mr. Knight is disposed to consider this as an hereditary 

 habit produced by domestication, and confirmed in the breed by the 

 uniform practice of many succeeding generations as a secondary in- 

 stinct. Accordingly, the original native propensity to migrate, re- 

 mains more strong in some families of bees than in others. 



Similar hereditary propensities are observable in the offspring of 

 many other domesticated animals. In the dog, more especially, ap- 

 pear the passions and propensities of its parent. A young spaniel, 

 brought up with terriers, showed no marks of emotion at the smell 

 of a polecat, which instantly irritated the young terriers ; but it pur- 

 sued a woodcock with clamour and exultation at first sight ; and the 

 young pointer stands trembling with anxiety, with his eyes fixed and 

 his muscles rigid, the very first time that he is conducted into the 

 midst of a covey of partridges. 



These peculiarities of character can be considered as nothing but 

 hereditary propensities or acquired instincts ; and are modifications, 

 capable of endless variation, in adapting animals to different coun- 

 tries and different states of domestication. 



Mr. Knight's further observations relate to the bee-bread and the 

 bees' wax. Respecting the former, he agrees fully with Mr. Hunter, 

 that the substance generally collected on the thighs of bees is the 

 farina of plants for feeding their young ; but he observes that they 

 occasionally carry other substances, and for other purposes, in the 

 same manner. With regard to the wax, he is not of Mr. Hunter's 

 opinion, that it is a secretion exuding from between the scales of 

 the abdomen, but thinks that it is of vegetable origin, collected by 

 the bees, and deposited between the scales for facility of conveyance, 

 and for giving the requisite temperature for being moulded into 

 combs. 



