NATURAL THEOLOGY. 353 



how commodiously the honey is bestowed in the 

 comb, and, amongst other advantages, how effec- 

 tually the fermentation of the honey is prevented 

 by distributing it into small cells. The fact is> 

 that when the honey is separated from the comb, 

 and put into jars, it runs into fermentation with a 

 much less degree of heat than what takes place in 

 a hive. This may be reckoned a nicety ; but, in- 

 dependently of any nicety in the matter, I would 

 ask, what could the bee do with the honey if it 

 had not the wax ? how, at least, could it store it 

 up for winter? The wax, therefore, answers a 

 purpose with respect to the honey ; and the honey 

 constitutes that purpose with respect to the wax. 

 This is the i-elation between them. But the two 

 substances, though together of the greatest use, 

 and without each other of litt'e, come from a dif- 

 ferent origin. The bee finds the honey, but 

 makes the wax. The honey is lodged in the nec- 

 taria of flowers, and probably undergoes little al- 

 teration — is merely collected; whereas the wax 

 is a ductile tenacious paste, made out of a dry 

 powder,^* not simply by kneading it with a liquid, 

 but by a digestive process in the body of the bee. 

 What account can be rendered of facts so circum- 



'^ The opinion of Huber, Hunter, and others, is, that wax is 

 not made out of pollen, but«f:om honey. Huber kept some bees 

 confined, and fed them with honey only, and wax was secreted as 

 usual. It is most likely that bees never cat farina, and that it is 

 collected from the larvae only. See article Bee, "Penny Cyclo- 

 paedia." 



30* 



