364 HONEY-DEW. 



sweet clammy fluid which we find upon certain 

 leaves, and commonly call f( honey-dew," was more 

 than usually abundant during these months. In 

 the day-time, bees, wasps, and tribes of flies, col- 

 lected to feed upon it ; and in the evenings moths 

 and insects of the night frequented the fruit-trees 

 on our walls, particuarly the cherry and the plum, 

 for the same purpose ; and their presence brought 

 the bat, so that some places were animated by the 

 flitting about of these creatures. Aphides abounded 

 upon all the young sprays. 



June 17, 1828. Abundance of rain has fallen 

 during the preceding night, and in the morning 

 of this day, about two o'clock, the sun broke 

 out, the air becoming hot and heavy. I was soon 

 surprised by observing multitudes of hive-bees 

 buzzing and crawling about the foliage and young 

 shoots of my laurel -bushes (prunus laurocerasus), 

 and feeding upon some sweet matter lodged on 

 them ; the blossoms had long before fallen off : no 

 aphides frequent this plant, nor were there any 

 trees near them from whence any sweet matter 

 might have fallen ; we have no honey-dew upon 

 our fruit-trees, and an aphis is scarcely to be found. 

 Has any saccharine matter fallen, or been emitted 

 by the plant, to entice these^insects to harbour about 

 them ? It clearly appears that honey-dews arise 

 from two causes : that a large portion of it is the 

 discharges from insects of the genus aphis, has long 

 since been manifested by the Abbe Sauvages, Mr. 

 Curtis, and others ; insects discharge in all days 



