Hive-Bees. 127 



drew out threads of the viscous substance, and lodged a pellet 

 of it in one of the baskets of its limbs ; from another bud it 

 collected another pellet for the opposite limb, and departed 

 to the hive. A second bee took the place of the former in a 

 few minutes, following the same procedure. Young shoots 

 of poplar, recently cut, did not seem to attract these insects, 

 as their viscous matter had less consistence than the former.* 

 " Different experiments proved the identity of this sub- 

 stance with the propolis ; and now, having only to discover 

 how the bees applied it to use, we peopled a hive, so prepared 

 as to fulfil our views. The bees, building upwards, soon 

 reached the glass above ; but, unable to quit their habita- 

 tion, on account of rain, they were three weeks without 

 bringing home propolis. Their combs remained perfectly 

 white until the beginning of July, when the state of the 

 atmosphere became more favourable for our observations. 

 Serene, warm weather engaged them to forage, and they 

 returned from the fields laden with a resinous gum, re- 

 sembling a transparent jelly, and having the colour and 

 lustre of the garnet. It was easily distinguished from the 

 farinaceous pellets then collected by other bees. The 

 workers bearing the propolis ran over the clusters, sus- 

 pended from the roof of the hive, and rested on the rods 

 supporting the combs, or sometimes stopped on the sides 

 of their dwelling, in expectation of their companions coming 

 to disencumber them of their burthen. We actually saw 

 two or three arrive, and carry the propolis from off the 

 limbs of each with their teeth. The upper part of the hive 

 exhibited the most animated spectacle ; thither a multitude 

 of bees resorted from all quarters, to engage in the pre- 

 dominant occupation of the collection, distribution, and ap- 

 plication of the propolis. Some conveyed that of which they 

 had unloaded the purveyors in their teeth, and deposited it 

 in heaps; others hastened, before its hardening, to spread 

 it out like a varnish, or formed it into strings, proportioned 

 to the interstices of the sides of the hives to be filled up. 



* Kirby and Spence observed bees very busy in collecting propolis from the 

 tacamahaca-tree (Populus balsamifera). Introd., ii. 186. 



