THE MAKVEL OF INSECT LIFE. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE MYSTERY OF HONEY AND WAX. 



HERE is the chemistry of Nature's alembic, and the 

 Bee may well preach that she, like ourselves, is 

 "fearfully and wonderfully made." 



Every one has seen honey and wax, and most people 

 have seen the honeycomb with the honey in it. But 

 who thinks of the mysteries of honey and wax 1 Who 

 asks himself how they are made ? Who reflects that the 

 conversion of flower-juices into honey is at present an 

 insoluble problem to the most advanced of our chemists. 



Take any sweet juice you like, whether obtained from 

 flowers, or fruits, or the sugarcane. Pour it into an 

 air-tight receptacle made of any kind of membrane, keep 

 it as long as you think fit, and it will be unchanged. 



