POLLEN. 371 



by the peculiar moisture of the stigma, performs 

 effectually its final purpose. 



This substance was once erroneously supposed 

 to be the prime constituent of wax ; but the ex- 

 periments of HUNTER and HUBER have proved 

 that wax is a secretion from the bodies of wax- 

 working bees*, and that the principal purpose of 

 pollen is to nourish the embryo-bees ; (it has 

 been called the ambrosia of the hive). Huber 

 was the first who suggested this idea, and it well 

 accords with what we observe among other parts 

 of the animal kingdom ; birds, for instance, feed 

 their young with different food from what they 

 take themselves. Mr. Hunter examined the sto- 

 machs of the maggot-bees, and found farina in 

 all, but not a particle of honey in any of them. 

 Huber considers the pollen as undergoing a pe- 

 culiar elaboration in the stomachs of the nursing- 

 bees, to be fitted for the nutriment of the larvae. 



" In spring," says DR. EVANS, " which may be 

 called the bee's first carrying season, scarcely one 

 of the labourers is seen returning to the hive, 

 without a little ball or pellet of farina, on each of 

 its hinder legs. These balls are invariably of the 

 same colour as the anther-dust of the flowers then 

 in bloom, the different tints of yellow, as pale, 

 greenish or deep orange, being most prevalent.' 5 



* Vide Chap. XXXV. 



