Hive-Bees. 135 



"Having taken a large bell -shaped glass receiver, we 

 glued thin wooden slips to the arch at certain intervals, 

 because the glass itself was too smooth to admit of the 

 bees supporting themselves on it. A swarm, consisting 

 of some thousand workers, several hundred males, and a 

 fertile queen, was introduced, and they soon ascended to 

 the top. Those first gaining the slips fixed themselves 

 there by the fore-feet ; others, scrambling up the sides, 

 joined them, by holding their legs with their own, and 

 they thus formed a kind of chain, fastened by the two ends 

 to the upper parts of the receiver, and served as ladders or 

 a bridge to the workers enlarging their number. The latter 

 were united in a cluster, hanging like an inverted pyramid 

 from the top to the bottom of the hive. 



" The country then affording little honey, we provided the 

 bees with syrup of sugar, in order to hasten their labour. 

 They crowded to the edge of a vessel containing it; and, 

 having satisfied themselves, returned to the group. We were 

 now struck with the absolute repose of this hive, contrasted 

 with the usual agitation of bees. Meanwhile, the nurse-bees 

 alone went to forage in the country; they returned with 

 pollen, kept guard at the entrance of the hive, cleansed it, 

 and stopped up its edges with propolis. The wax-workers 

 remained motionless about fifteen hours : the curtain of bees, 

 consisting always of the same individuals, assured us that 

 none replaced them. Some hours later, we remarked that 

 almost all these individuals had wax scales under the rings ; 

 and next day this phenomenon was still more general. The 

 bees forming the external layer of the cluster, having now 

 somewhat altered their position, enabled us to see their 

 bellies distinctly. By the projection of the wax scales, the 

 rings seemed edged with white. The curtain of bees became 

 rent in several places, and some commotion began to be 

 observed in the hive. 



" Convinced that the combs would originate in the centre 

 of the swarm, our whole attention was then directed towards 

 the roof of the glass. A worker at this time detached itself 

 from one of the central festoons of the cluster, separated itself 



