362 BEES-WAX. 



DOBBS, Esq., in the Philosophical Transactions 

 for 1752, instead of considering wax as digested 

 pollen discharged from the stomach of the bee, 

 regards it as being emitted per anum ; and as he 

 speaks of its discharge in husks or shells, doubt- 

 less he saw it in that form, which it is now 

 known to assume when moulded upon the body 

 of the bee. Indeed he says that he has had swarm- 

 ing bees alight upon his hand, and drop warm 

 wax upon it. Its being secreted only by the under 

 side of the belly might easily deceive, and lead 

 him to regard it as alvine excrement. 



I will here subjoin some more proofs of the 

 non-identity of wax and pollen. So long ago as 

 1768, the LUSATIAN SOCIETY (called Societe des 

 Abeilles, founded at little Bautzen, a village in 

 Upper Lusatia, under the auspices of the Elector 

 of Saxony,) knew that wax was not discharged 

 from the mouths of bees, but was secreted in thin 

 scales among their abdominal rings or segments. 

 About 1774, MR. THORLEY caught a bee just 

 entering its hive, and found, among the plaits of 

 its belly, no less than six pieces or scales of solid 

 wax, perfectly white and transparent, and he 

 oftentimes saw wax in the same situation. M. 

 DUCHET, in his Culture des Abeilles, quoted by 

 WILDMAN in 1778, declares that wax is formed 

 of honey ; and relates in proof of it, that he has 

 seen a broken comb of an overset hive, which 



